I found the culprit: kdeconnect. As suggested here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/897358/nautilus-freezes-on-copy-action-not-during-transfer changing the name of kdeconnect-cli in /usr/bin works as a workaround.
** Also affects: kdeconnect (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to nautilus in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1718443 Title: Nautilus becomes unresponsive for several seconds when cutting or copying a file To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdeconnect/+bug/1718443/+subscriptions -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs