Busey Bank Sells 255 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Busey Bank trimmed its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,894 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.39.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $256.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $58.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.34. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $206.71 and a 52-week high of $277.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.64.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 50.70%.

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.