Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 42.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,345 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 31,207 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,700,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 25.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 18,307 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 59.7% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 43,263 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $9,288,000 after acquiring an additional 16,179 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 39.5% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 100,321 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $21,538,000 after purchasing an additional 28,432 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 225.6% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 25,978 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,204,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 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 equities research analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $263.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $256.47 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.