Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 300.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Nordson were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Nordson by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 162,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,024,000 after purchasing an additional 21,016 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 5,590.7% during the 1st 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 period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,562,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Nordson from $315.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Nordson from $303.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nordson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.40.

Nordson Price Performance

NDSN stock traded down $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $235.10. The company had a trading volume of 77,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,081. The company’s fifty day moving average is $233.74 and its 200 day moving average is $252.84. The company has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.21. Nordson Co. has a 1 year low of $208.91 and a 1 year high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Nordson had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 18.23%. The business had revenue of $650.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Nordson Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 32.42%.

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.