Axiom Advisory LLC Buys 79 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,304 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,525,699,000 after purchasing an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after purchasing an additional 37,386 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on NSC. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

NSC opened at $243.20 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $246.73 and its 200 day moving average is $236.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

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.