Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $872,000 Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NDSN. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 791,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,534,000 after acquiring an additional 275,240 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 24,445.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 158,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,951,000 after acquiring an additional 158,162 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Nordson by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,391,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $310,534,000 after acquiring an additional 117,337 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Nordson by 1,960.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 98,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,049,000 after acquiring an additional 94,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Nordson by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,235,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $498,992,000 after acquiring an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordson Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NDSN stock opened at $259.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $266.51 and a 200-day moving average of $249.94. 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 12-month low of $208.90 and a 12-month high of $278.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.