State of Michigan Retirement System Has $3.09 Million Stock Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Nordson were worth $3,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Nordson by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nordson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 302,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,385,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Nordson by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Nordson in the 4th quarter valued at $3,678,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Nordson by 545.2% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 4,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NDSN. Baird R W lowered Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordson

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,519,286.13. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $215.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.24. Nordson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.83 and a fifty-two week high of $279.38. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $615.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.40 million. Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

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.