Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Sells 175 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. reduced its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Nucor by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after acquiring an additional 67,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the period. 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 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.63.

Nucor Trading Up 0.8 %

NUE stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.52 and a 200-day moving average of $144.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

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.