Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 504.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,271 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Nordson were worth $2,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nordson by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,997,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,361,928,000 after acquiring an additional 850,479 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,467,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $560,322,000 after buying an additional 395,419 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,235,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $498,992,000 after buying an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Nordson by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,391,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $310,534,000 after purchasing an additional 117,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Nordson by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 911,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $226,307,000 after purchasing an additional 60,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NDSN. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NDSN opened at $257.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $208.90 and a 52-week high of $278.00.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $630.77 million. Nordson had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.