Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 32,446 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,475,948 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 32,446 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in NIKE were worth $490,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in NIKE by 5.1% in 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 boosted its stake in NIKE by 1.0% in 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in NIKE by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,205,753 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $696,599,000 after acquiring an additional 603,219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE stock opened at $65.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.13. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.95 and a 12-month high of $98.04. 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 (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Cfra Research raised NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Fifteen equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.