King Luther Capital Management Corp Cuts Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Nordson were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nordson by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordson by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Nordson by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,451,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Nordson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,195,000. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NDSN. Baird R W downgraded Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp raised Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nordson news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nordson Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $207.40 on Friday. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $196.83 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.50.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. Analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.69%.

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.