Knuff & Co LLC Sells 3,600 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Knuff & Co LLC trimmed its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,927 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,942 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 23,813 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 5,662 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $235,000. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $1,341,000. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 432,400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $32,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $74.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average of $78.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $102.49. The company has a market cap of $109.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

NIKE 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.