Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,145 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,211 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.26% of Nordson worth $30,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDSN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nordson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,226,757 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,302,887,000 after buying an additional 93,146 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,561,866 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $326,803,000 after buying an additional 47,052 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,455,956 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $303,918,000 after buying an additional 12,590 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $180,036,000 after buying an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 761,233 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $159,280,000 after buying an additional 4,955 shares during the period. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NDSN shares. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas downgraded 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $250.20.

Nordson Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NDSN stock traded up $4.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 354,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,301. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $191.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.69. Nordson Co. has a 12-month low of $165.03 and a 12-month high of $266.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.90.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.69%.

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.