Brokerages Set Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Target Price at $279.00

Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $279.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NDSN shares. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price target (down from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Transactions at Nordson

In other Nordson news, EVP Jennifer L. Mcdonough sold 225 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.27, for a total transaction of $59,010.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,081.49. The trade was a 6.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,286.13. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,928 shares of company stock valued at $433,080. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Nordson in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Nordson by 130.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Nordson in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Nordson in the second quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 18.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ NDSN opened at $200.12 on Wednesday. Nordson has a 1-year low of $196.83 and a 1-year high of $279.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.10.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The industrial products company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $744.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.83 million. Nordson had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 19.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nordson will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Nordson’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

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.