NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Cutler Investment Counsel LLC

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,939 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,665 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $9,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new position in NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $533,533,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in NIKE by 612.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $487,327,000 after buying an additional 4,457,376 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,715,689 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $204,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,049 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,550,611 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 145.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,111,708 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $186,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,380 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Trading Up 1.3 %

NIKE stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.66. 13,584,939 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,489,007. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.75 and a fifty-two week high of $123.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.27.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Williams Trading upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.48.

About NIKE

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.