Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its stake in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Nordson were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Nordson by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 10,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Southern Style Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nordson during the 4th quarter worth $399,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Nordson by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its position in Nordson by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Nordson by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDSN. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price target (down from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nordson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.25.

Nordson Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDSN opened at $220.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Nordson Co. has a twelve month low of $196.83 and a twelve month high of $279.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.49.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The industrial products company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $744.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.83 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Nordson’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 317 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.75, for a total transaction of $82,657.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,159.50. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Mcdonough sold 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.27, for a total value of $59,010.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,081.49. This represents a 6.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,928 shares of company stock valued at $433,080 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nordson Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.