NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Stock Position Trimmed by Polen Capital Management LLC

Polen Capital Management LLC decreased its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,607 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 358.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $156,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $71.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $106.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.68 and a 200-day moving average of $77.77. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $101.92.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NKE. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.69.

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.