Somerset Trust Co Purchases 429 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Somerset Trust Co raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,704 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Norfolk Southern comprises 1.5% of Somerset Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,318,716,000 after purchasing an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,133,828,000 after buying an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after buying an additional 103,281 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $245.39 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $206.71 and a 12 month high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $55.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.19.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.