NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Longview Partners Guernsey LTD

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD reduced its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,862,081 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 206,092 shares during the period. NIKE accounts for about 2.7% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD’s holdings in NIKE were worth $367,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitlin John LLC increased its position in NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in NIKE by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $53.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.31. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $79.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on NIKE in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.15.

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.