First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 676.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 214,594 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.43% of Nordson worth $51,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NDSN. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Nordson by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Nordson by 695.0% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in Nordson in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the 4th quarter worth $98,000. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordson Price Performance

Nordson stock opened at $183.06 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.81. Nordson Co. has a 1 year low of $165.03 and a 1 year high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 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 firm had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.20.

Nordson Company 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.