Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 8,000 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 42.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Nucor were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $154.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The business's 50-day moving average price is $150.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.68.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm's revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $190.57.

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.

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