Brokerages Set Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) Price Target at $252.00

Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $252.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDSN. KeyCorp decreased 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. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Nordson in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nordson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Nordson from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Nordson during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Nordson by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 192 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 36.7% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 201 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 74.8% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 201 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordson Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NDSN stock traded up $2.27 on Wednesday, hitting $222.75. The stock had a trading volume of 342,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,548. The stock's 50 day moving average is $204.32 and its 200-day moving average is $205.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.89. Nordson has a 52-week low of $165.03 and a 52-week high of $266.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.56.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $682.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.36 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 16.51%. The company's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nordson will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.10%.

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.