Rothschild Investment LLC Cuts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Rothschild Investment LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,187 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,214 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of NIKE by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,204,451,000 after purchasing an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in NIKE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $910,801,000 after purchasing an additional 583,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,602,534 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $760,716,000 after purchasing an additional 117,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $106.10.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

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.