113 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Acquired by Financial Life Planners

Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 113 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 46,058 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $11,445,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 22.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,181 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NSC. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.11.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC opened at $250.13 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $248.95 and its 200-day moving average is $249.15. The stock has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. On average, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.