Two Sigma Securities LLC Takes $579,000 Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,768 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,670,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Nordson during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,005,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 676.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 246,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $51,539,000 after buying an additional 214,594 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $145,135,000 after acquiring an additional 111,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NDSN shares. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $250.20.

Nordson Price Performance

NDSN stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $190.72. The stock had a trading volume of 164,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,130. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company's 50-day moving average price is $196.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. Nordson Co. has a twelve month low of $165.03 and a twelve month high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.02). Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $639.40 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Nordson's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.