Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 84,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 22,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.15% of Nordson worth $17,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Nordson by 1.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. CFC Planning Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Nordson by 0.6% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,146,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Nordson by 2.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 54,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,719,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the first quarter valued at about $585,000. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nordson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Nordson in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nordson from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Nordson in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Nordson from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.86.

Nordson Trading Up 2.1%

Nordson stock traded up $4.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $217.47. 426,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,706. Nordson Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $165.03 and a fifty-two week high of $266.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $211.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.06. Nordson had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $682.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $671.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Nordson's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nordson Corporation will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.10%.

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.