Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $14.50 Million Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 437.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,877 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.11% of Nordson worth $14,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nordson by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,122,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,680,769,000 after purchasing an additional 52,443 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Nordson by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $601,032,000 after purchasing an additional 68,810 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Nordson by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 942,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,764,000 after purchasing an additional 88,966 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Nordson by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 601,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $139,624,000 after purchasing an additional 15,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,689,000 after buying an additional 11,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nordson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.00.

Nordson Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Nordson stock opened at $261.66 on Friday. Nordson Co. has a one year low of $208.91 and a one year high of $279.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $247.53 and its 200 day moving average is $249.76. The firm has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.90.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.08. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $661.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $656.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

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.