AIA Group Ltd Buys 7,271 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 504.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,271 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Nordson were worth $2,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,997,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,361,928,000 after purchasing an additional 850,479 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,467,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $560,322,000 after acquiring an additional 395,419 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nordson by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,235,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $498,992,000 after buying an additional 88,095 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Nordson by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,391,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,534,000 after buying an additional 117,337 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nordson by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 911,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $226,307,000 after buying an additional 60,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Nordson Stock Down 0.5 %

NDSN opened at $257.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Nordson Co. has a 52 week low of $208.90 and a 52 week high of $278.00. The stock has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.00.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $630.77 million. Nordson had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.59%. Nordson’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.