Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 3,067 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Prospera Financial Services Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 19.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,823 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 3,067 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 7,716 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 381 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $259.10 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $253.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $206.71 and a 1-year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

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.