Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Holdings Reduced by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management decreased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Nucor were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 4.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 162,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,650,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 108,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,128,000 after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2,029.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.15 and its 200-day moving average is $143.08.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NUE. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.63.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.