Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,770 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $7,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $222,025,000 after purchasing an additional 889,925 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $956,285,000 after purchasing an additional 347,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $259.02. 35,680 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,247,524. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $253.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.27. The stock has a market cap of $58.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value 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 $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern 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.