Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Sold by Jump Financial LLC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 56.1% in the first quarter, leaving it with 46,256 shares valued at approximately $5.57 million.
• Several large investors, including Mirae Asset Global Investments and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, made significant increases to their positions in Nucor during the same period.
• Nucor's stock has a consensus target price of $155.78 with recent analyst ratings reflecting a generally positive outlook, including target price increases by JPMorgan and Jefferies.

Jump Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,256 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 59,063 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $5,566,000 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,484,965,000 after acquiring an additional 745,671 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Nucor by 18.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $277,920,000 after buying an additional 355,364 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 5.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,772,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $213,342,000 after buying an additional 92,363 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor during the first quarter worth $194,804,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Nucor by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,384,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $161,595,000 after buying an additional 96,375 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,333,882.24. This trade represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,051,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,458,134. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,397 shares of company stock worth $6,763,814 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.78.

Nucor Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NUE traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.82. 563,652 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,404,697. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $140.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.90. The company has a market capitalization of $34.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.74.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The business had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

About Nucor

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.