Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 7,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 12,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Partners Group LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 15,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 3.8 %

Nucor stock opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.08.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

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

Nucor 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.