Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 1,839 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,839 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Nordson worth $12,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nordson during the 4th quarter valued at $142,670,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Nordson during the 4th quarter valued at $74,005,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nordson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,226,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,302,887,000 after acquiring an additional 93,146 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Nordson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,138,000 after purchasing an additional 48,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nordson by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 193,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,399,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NDSN. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price target (down from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.20.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $187.29 on Thursday. Nordson Co. has a 12 month low of $165.03 and a 12 month high of $279.38. The company has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $206.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released 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). Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $615.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

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.