Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Holdings Decreased by XXEC Inc.

XXEC Inc. reduced its holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,541 shares during the period. Nordson comprises about 3.1% of XXEC Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Nordson were worth $3,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nordson by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Nordson by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 302,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,385,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in Nordson by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson during the 4th quarter valued at $3,678,000. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDSN. DA Davidson dropped 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas lowered Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $237.00 price target (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.20.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDSN opened at $206.55 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53. Nordson Co. has a 52 week low of $196.83 and a 52 week high of $279.38. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.95.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The company 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 fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is 39.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordson

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,286.13. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.