Motco Sells 2,713 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Motco lessened its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,136 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,713 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in NIKE were worth $162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was 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.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $79.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.64 and a 200 day moving average of $78.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $105.57.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 2.01%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.