Birch Capital Management LLC Sells 2,524 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Birch Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,953 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,524 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in NIKE in the third quarter valued at approximately $148,635,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter valued at approximately $144,927,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in NIKE by 351.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,991,519 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $150,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550,611 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen cut their price target on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.58.

NIKE Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NKE traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,899,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,611,612. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.75 and a 52 week high of $107.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.93. The stock has a market cap of $108.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.