Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) Reaches New 12-Month High at $278.00

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $278.00 and last traded at $278.00, with a volume of 126110 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $273.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Nordson Stock Performance

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.00.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.18. Nordson had a return on equity of 20.59% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $633.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $630.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nordson Co. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,213 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.13, for a total transaction of $303,407.69. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,845,709.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Nordson news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,213 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.13, for a total value of $303,407.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,845,709.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Srinivas Subramanian sold 2,100 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.79, for a total value of $526,659.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,144,856.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDSN. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,894,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,471,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $447,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,204,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nordson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,069,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,603,368,000 after buying an additional 20,164 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.