BIP Wealth LLC Sells 113 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

BIP Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,342 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,933,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,444,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 200.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 10,719 shares during the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,973,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 187,259 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $36,877,000 after acquiring an additional 16,727 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:NSC traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $239.18. 791,574 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,796. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.34 and a 200 day moving average of $232.12. The stock has a market cap of $58.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.