Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Nordson were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 7,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Nordson during the third quarter worth $371,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nordson by 10.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Nordson in the third quarter worth about $1,424,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Nordson by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nordson

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,519,286.13. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $207.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. Nordson Co. has a 12-month low of $196.83 and a 12-month high of $279.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.31.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NDSN. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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. KeyCorp upgraded Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.20.

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.