Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $227.98 Million Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,012,770 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 16,003 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $227,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.05.

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

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

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.