Ieq Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ieq Capital LLC lessened its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,706 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 13,938 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of NIKE by 5.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,425,886,000 after buying an additional 1,343,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,204,451,000 after buying an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 6.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $910,801,000 after buying an additional 583,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NIKE by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,602,534 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,716,000 after buying an additional 117,187 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $76.50 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $106.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $113.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

NIKE Company Profile

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.