MQS Management LLC Trims Stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

MQS Management LLC lowered its position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,762 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Nordson were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nordson by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,122,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,680,769,000 after purchasing an additional 52,443 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nordson by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 942,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,764,000 after purchasing an additional 88,966 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 601,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $139,624,000 after buying an additional 15,947 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Nordson by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,689,000 after buying an additional 11,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Nordson by 1,579.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 347,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,762,000 after buying an additional 326,690 shares during the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDSN opened at $255.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $245.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.89. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $208.91 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.08. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $661.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $656.49 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NDSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.40.

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.