Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 607 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 607 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Nordson were worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NDSN. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Nordson in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nordson by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in Nordson during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Nordson during the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 2,387.5% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $299.00.

Nordson Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Nordson stock opened at $250.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.11. Nordson Co. has a 12-month low of $208.91 and a 12-month high of $279.38. The company has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Nordson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a positive change from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

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.