Nucor shares face institutional cuts and Zacks downgrade to Hold

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 4.2% in the first quarter, selling 4,535 shares and holding 103,370 shares valued at about $17.5 million. The adjustment comes as other large investors such as Vanguard Group and Morgan Stanley have also modified their positions in the steelmaker.

Zacks Research downgraded Nucor from a "strong‑buy" to a "hold" rating, projecting second‑quarter earnings of $4.77 per share. The downgrade follows Nucor's recent earnings beat, with Q1 EPS of $3.23 versus $2.82 expected and revenue of $9.5 billion, up 21.3% YoY. Other analysts have issued mixed ratings, ranging from "outperform" to "hold," and the stock currently trades near $222 with a market cap of roughly $50 billion.

Recent insider activity shows several executives selling shares, totaling over 80,000 shares worth nearly $19 million in the past 90 days, reducing insider ownership to about 0.6% of the company.