Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 88,990 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.33% of Nordson worth $39,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Nordson by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 56,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Nordson by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $145,135,000 after buying an additional 111,538 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Nordson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,556,000. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $185.56 on Friday. Nordson Co. has a one year low of $165.03 and a one year high of $279.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is 39.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp dropped 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. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.20.

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.