Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Position Cut by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,838 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of Nucor worth $27,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Nucor by 127,059.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,461,138,000 after buying an additional 155,109,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,438,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $841,209,000 after buying an additional 23,366 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Nucor by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,880,000 after buying an additional 979,824 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Nucor by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,851,000 after buying an additional 149,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after buying an additional 159,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.67.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $198.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $198.63.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.33. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 12.01%.

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.