Korea Investment CORP Has $8.02 Million Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 151.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 23,100 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Nordson worth $8,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the 4th quarter worth about $74,005,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nordson by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,638,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,916,000 after purchasing an additional 177,282 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nordson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,226,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,302,887,000 after purchasing an additional 93,146 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 10.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 193,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,399,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Baird R W lowered Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 target price (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.20.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NDSN stock opened at $201.72 on Tuesday. Nordson Co. has a 52 week low of $196.83 and a 52 week high of $279.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.79. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its quarterly 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). Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $615.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Nordson’s payout ratio is 39.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nordson news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,519,286.13. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.