Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Short Interest Down 16.7% in March

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the March 15th total of 1,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 373,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDSN has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Loop Capital raised Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $250.20.

Institutional Trading of Nordson

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Nordson by 1.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,181 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nordson by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,697 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,919 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 295,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,723,000 after acquiring an additional 13,184 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Nordson by 10.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $135,138,000 after purchasing an additional 48,720 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Nordson by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,334 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company's stock.

Nordson Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDSN traded up $3.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $188.48. 171,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 300,218. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $199.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.55. The firm has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53. Nordson has a 52-week low of $165.03 and a 52-week high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.02). Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. The company had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nordson will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson's dividend 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.