PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,355,595 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 79,245 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $102,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,929 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in NIKE by 358.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $228,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $156,438,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $78.68 on Friday. 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 cap of $116.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.18.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NKE. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.