L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Reduces Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP cut its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,974 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,926 shares during the quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.62.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $71.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.95 and a 200 day moving average of $78.09. The firm has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $107.43.

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

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

NIKE Company 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.