AE Wealth Management LLC Purchases 990 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 14.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,007 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 990 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Boston Partners grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $241,421,000 after acquiring an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in 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. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after purchasing an additional 429,288 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,887,655. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NSC shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $245.99 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $243.88 and a 200 day moving average of $237.67. The stock has a market cap of $55.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

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.