Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 560,321 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 326,878 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.25% of Norfolk Southern worth $131,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,575,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $945,385,000 after acquiring an additional 580,293 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,302,635 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $308,607,000 after acquiring an additional 469,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $105,225,000. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $75,621,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock traded down $2.82 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $208.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,229,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,321. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $241.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90.

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Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NSC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $272.74.

Norfolk Southern 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.