NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 433,339 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 21,380 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $32,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NIKE Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $71.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $101.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 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. 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 analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Dbs Bank upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.69.

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.