Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by First Command Advisory Services Inc.

First Command Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,033 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,318,716,000 after acquiring an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,133,828,000 after acquiring an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $967,340,000 after acquiring an additional 103,281 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.11.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $242.14 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $54.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $245.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.71.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.