NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,336 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,237 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $7,159,000. Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA raised its position in NIKE by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA now owns 887,191 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $67,134,000 after buying an additional 9,713 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 114,812 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $8,688,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 250,898 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $18,986,000 after acquiring an additional 10,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Research LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 3,147 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $74.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $109.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.62 and a 12 month high of $102.49.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

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 2.16%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NKE. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Fourteen equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 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. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.