Brokerages Set Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Target Price at $256.20

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $256.20.

NDSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NDSN stock opened at $206.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. Nordson has a 1-year low of $196.83 and a 1-year high of $279.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.85.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $615.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.40 million. Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nordson will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Nordson’s payout ratio is 39.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,286.13. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nordson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $142,670,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Nordson during the 4th quarter worth $74,005,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Nordson by 676.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 246,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,539,000 after acquiring an additional 214,594 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Nordson by 7.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,638,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,916,000 after buying an additional 177,282 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $145,135,000 after purchasing an additional 111,538 shares during the period. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nordson Company 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.