Insider Selling: Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) CEO Sells 51,325 Shares of Stock

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $1.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $249.87. 793,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,263,109. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $56.45 billion, a PE ratio of 40.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $245.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $106,661,000 after purchasing an additional 429,288 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 10.2% in the first 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 during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.17.

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.