Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) Cut to “Neutral” at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas cut shares of Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $219.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.25.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NDSN stock opened at $210.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Nordson has a one year low of $196.83 and a one year high of $279.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.95.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nordson will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,519,286.13. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordson

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $142,670,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Nordson during the fourth quarter worth $74,005,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Nordson by 676.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 246,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,539,000 after buying an additional 214,594 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Nordson by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,638,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,916,000 after acquiring an additional 177,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Nordson by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $145,135,000 after acquiring an additional 111,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Company 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.