D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) by 188.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,213 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,323 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Nordson were worth $2,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Nordson by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Nordson by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Nordson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson during the 4th quarter worth $92,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson during the 4th quarter worth $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $250.20.

Nordson Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Nordson stock traded down $2.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $193.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 319,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,772. Nordson Co. has a 1-year low of $165.03 and a 1-year high of $266.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $192.10 and a 200 day moving average of $213.84. The company has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

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.