Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 353,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,005,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Nordson by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 695.0% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $109,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $179,000. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NDSN shares. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $237.00 target price (down previously 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Nordson Price Performance

Shares of NDSN stock opened at $215.31 on Monday. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $196.83 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.98.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordson

In other Nordson news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,519,286.13. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Nordson

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.