Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC cut its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 556,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 124,475 shares during the quarter. Nucor makes up approximately 1.0% of Vest Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Nucor worth $66,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NUE. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.22.

Nucor Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NUE stock traded up $2.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.71. 2,061,217 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,192,487. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $113.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.