Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Cambridge Trust Co.

Cambridge Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,739 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $746,217,000 after buying an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,666 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $627,438,000 after buying an additional 638,384 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock opened at $240.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $59.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $253.23 and a 200-day moving average of $230.45. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.33%.

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.