Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Takes Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,200 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $4,714,927,000 after buying an additional 139,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,020,318,000 after buying an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,098,472,000 after buying an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $945,385,000 after buying an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $931,426,000 after buying an additional 75,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $293.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $266.50.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $3.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $246.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,178,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,215,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.59. The company has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The firm's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

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.