Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $1.36 Million Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Nordson were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Nordson by 130.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Nordson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Nordson by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Nordson by 695.0% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Nordson by 18.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NDSN. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective 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. Baird R W downgraded Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price target (down from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nordson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.25.

Insider Transactions at Nordson

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,703 shares of company stock worth $374,069 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of Nordson stock opened at $216.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.29. Nordson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.83 and a fifty-two week high of $279.38. The firm has a market cap of $12.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The industrial products company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $744.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Nordson’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

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.