Trust Point Inc. Buys 142 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Trust Point Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,060 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $967,340,000 after acquiring an additional 103,281 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 881,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. This trade 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 company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $251.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $247.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $56.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $206.71 and a 52-week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.11.

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.