SlateStone Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Nordson were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nordson by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 118,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Nordson by 6.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,684,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nordson in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Nordson by 3.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nordson by 22.2% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NDSN shares. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson decreased 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. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of 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. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of Nordson 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. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nordson Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDSN opened at $207.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Nordson Co. has a 52 week low of $196.83 and a 52 week high of $279.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.13 and its 200 day moving average is $235.21. The company has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $639.40 million. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is 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.