Headlands Technologies LLC Cuts Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Headlands Technologies LLC cut its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 67.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,221 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $268,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,297 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 138.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 515,302 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $120,941,000 after buying an additional 299,096 shares during the period. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1,756.3% in the fourth quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 297 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NSC. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $293.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $210.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $51.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $242.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.36. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 46.71%.

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.