FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 331 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,059 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 331 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after purchasing an additional 196,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,133,828,000 after purchasing an additional 62,186 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after purchasing an additional 103,281 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NSC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.11.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE NSC opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.77. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced 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 return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. Research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. The trade was a 32.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.