Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $239.51 Million Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 963,816 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,577 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $239,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 57.1% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.6% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 22,144 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,644,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $841,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,361 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $285,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NSC opened at $275.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $254.48 and a 200-day moving average of $240.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.