NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. cut its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,485 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 598 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in 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 last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock opened at $74.21 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $102.49. The stock has a market capitalization 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. 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’s 50-day moving average is $74.77 and its 200-day moving average is $78.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 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.