Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 13,984 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,984 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of Nordson worth $82,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas boosted its holdings in Nordson by 4,344.4% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 400 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Nordson by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,927 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth $1,729,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 285,224 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $75,345,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NDSN. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. DA Davidson raised their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nordson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Nordson Price Performance

Nordson stock traded down $1.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $271.99. The company had a trading volume of 301,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.19. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $266.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Nordson Co. has a 1-year low of $208.90 and a 1-year high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.18. Nordson had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The firm had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $630.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Nordson's payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.