Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 6,661 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,221 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 6,661 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in NIKE were worth $934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.69.

NIKE Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $71.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $101.92.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.