Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $1.44 Million Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,149 shares of the railroad operator's stock after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 267.6% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,110 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.2% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,269 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,205,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,007 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,719,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 45,945 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $9,864,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,496 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $3,542,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NSC stock traded down $1.72 on Monday, reaching $245.39. 1,024,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 970,692. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $251.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.84. The stock has a market cap of $55.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.34. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. 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 (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $275.68.

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.