Zacks: Brokerages Anticipate Nordson Co. (NDSN) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $549.93 Million

Equities research analysts predict that Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) will post $549.93 million in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Eight analysts have made estimates for Nordson’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $541.50 million to $555.70 million. Nordson reported sales of $496.14 million during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 10.8%. The business is scheduled to report its next earnings results on Monday, August 20th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Nordson will report full year sales of $2.28 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $2.26 billion to $2.32 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will post sales of $2.38 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $2.32 billion to $2.45 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that follow Nordson.

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Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Nordson had a return on equity of 28.97% and a net margin of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $553.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $551.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Nordson’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

NDSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Co set a $135.00 price target on Nordson and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 23rd. Zacks Investment Research raised Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 16th. BidaskClub lowered Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd. B. Riley cut their price target on Nordson from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 23rd. Finally, ValuEngine lowered Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.60.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of Nordson by 972.7% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. CI Global Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Nordson by 1,721.4% in the first quarter. CI Global Investments Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Sapphire Star Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Institutional investors own 66.24% of the company’s stock.

Nordson stock opened at $130.49 on Friday. Nordson has a one year low of $107.16 and a one year high of $151.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 29th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 25th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.35%.

About Nordson

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids. Its Adhesive Dispensing Systems segment provides dispensing, coating, and laminating systems for adhesives, lotions, liquids, and fibers to disposable products and roll goods; and product assembly dispensing, coating, and laminating systems for use in paper and paperboard converting applications, as well as for the manufacture of roll goods.

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In tech, patents are trophies -- and these companies are dominating

Dan Zhang just had his career bar mitzvah.

Zhang, 30, interned at Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) before landing a full-time engineering role at another big tech firm last year. This spring, he finally checked off a key item on his bucket list: filing his first patent.

"It's a rite of passage," says Zhang, who likened the patent process to the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. He declined to go into detail about the patent filing, which has not yet been made public. (It can take months or even years for patents to be granted.)

Zhang says patents offer "some objective evidence" that you're an expert in your field and serves "as a trophy, or a piece of bragging rights."

He isn't alone in this view. While patents are intended to protect intellectual property, they're also seen in the tech industry as a way to brand companies and their employees as being more innovative.

"To some extent, they are trading chips," says Mark Lemley, a law professor at Stanford and director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. "We count them because they represent innovation, not because they are a powerful legal right."

On Tuesday, the US Patent and Trademark Office announced issuing its 10 millionth patent, for a "Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection" from Raytheon. Yes, it's a mouthful.

A good chunk of those patents comes from the tech industry. Apple, Microsoft (MSFT), Intel, Google (GOOGL), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Samsung (SSNLF) were each granted more than 2,000 patents last year, ranking them among the top 15 patent recipients in the US, according to IFI Claims Patent Services, which tracks patent data.

No company has been more prolific with patents than IBM (IBM). It received 9,043 patents in 2017, marking its 25th consecutive year of dominating the patent rankings -- a fact IBM is not bashful about sharing. This year, it is on pace to top 10,000 patents, according to projections provided to CNNMoney by IFI Claims.

Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs received U.S. patent number 7,166,791 for a "graphical user interface" for the iPod.

These patents can be used for licensing, or as a defensive measure against litigation. Manny Schecter, chief patent counsel at IBM, says the sprawling patent portfolio also helps brand IBM to potential customers and employees as "an innovator," potentially boosting sales and recruiting.

"Patents are sometimes used as a currency for innovation," Schecter tells CNNMoney. "That's because it's hard to otherwise quantify the amount of innovation that's going on."

To be sure, patents played a key role in the smartphone wars that dominated Silicon Valley in recent years. Apple and Samsung have been engaged in a years-long legal showdown over software and design patents. In 2012, Google spent $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola Mobility, giving it access to a treasure trove of patents.

But changes in the law over the past decade have only made it harder to get an injunction or win large sums in damages, says Michael Risch, a patent law professor at Villanova University.

"Patents are just not as valuable as they used to be," he says.

Several classic patents, including Wilbur and Orville Wright's patent for a "Flying Machine."

That hasn't stopped tech companies from aggressively filing patents. Google, Apple, Amazon (AMZN) and others are pushing forward with a range of new patents touching on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, drones and virtual reality, according to an analysis of patent activity late last year from CB Insights.

"I do think more recently, companies -- especially startups -- are realizing that just being a cool application is not enough," says Ethan Kurzweil, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. They want to be "inventing some core piece of technology, whether it be AI, machine learning, autonomous driving, or computer vision. ... Patents will matter a lot more in those contexts."

Tech companies make sure to reward employees for filing patents. Depending on their division, IBM employees may get a bonus, a plaque or certificate, or even have their picture featured in an IBM building or on the website, Schecter says.

Zhang says he's also seen companies give out small cash rewards as well as "decorative marble cubes that say, 'Congratulations.'"

More than the money or the trinkets, Zhang says it's about the sense of "validation" the patent provides. "It shows this is what I accomplished. I've been recognized by the US government for this accomplishment."