Banco Santander S.A. Sells 167,820 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 55.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,002 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 167,820 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $10,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $78.68 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.76 and a 200-day moving average of $78.18. 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 capitalization of $116.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $102.49.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 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.