Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,849,806 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 42,695 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $163,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Condor Capital Management increased its holdings in NIKE by 0.4% in the first quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 26,079 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 11,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 1.9% in the third quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 768 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 26.3% during the third quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $75.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.07.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $4,093,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,435,628. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NKE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Williams Trading raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.48.

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.