Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,932 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 895 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,417 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 19.3% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,028,131 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 166,127 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in NIKE by 3.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 111,285 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,698 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $68.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.40.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About NIKE

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.