T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 27,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,706,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Nordson by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $135,138,000 after purchasing an additional 48,720 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Nordson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,553,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nordson by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 295,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,723,000 after buying an additional 13,184 shares in the last quarter. Southern Style Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nordson during the fourth quarter valued at about $399,000. Finally, Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth about $4,137,000. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NDSN shares. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 24th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $250.20.

Nordson Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Nordson stock traded up $2.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $192.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 333,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,449. The company has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's 50-day moving average is $195.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.86. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $165.03 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $615.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $639.40 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is 39.69%.

Nordson 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.