Joseph P. Kelley Sells 3,000 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Stock

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) EVP Joseph P. Kelley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.98, for a total transaction of $749,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,659 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,576.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Nordson Trading Up 1.2 %

Nordson stock opened at $256.62 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $250.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.10. Nordson Co. has a 1 year low of $208.91 and a 1 year high of $279.38. The stock has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Nordson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a positive change from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.00%.

Institutional Trading of Nordson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Nordson by 5,590.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 61.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,224,000 after buying an additional 11,875 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,562,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 422.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 11,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Nordson by 3.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 123,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,033,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $299.00.

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.