Axa S.A. Acquires 11,628 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

AXA S.A. increased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 106.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,628 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,096,431. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $176.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $119.05 and its 200 day moving average is $129.42. The stock has a market cap of $26.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.33.

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.