Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Acquires 9,891 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 79.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,398 shares of the railroad operator's stock after purchasing an additional 9,891 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $5,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,525,699,000 after purchasing an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Norfolk Southern stock traded up $0.96 on Friday, hitting $271.67. 1,301,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,854. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $193.15 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm has a market cap of $61.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $251.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. Norfolk Southern's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 50.70%.

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.