NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Position Trimmed by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 55.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,972 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 99,817 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in NIKE were worth $6,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its stake in NIKE by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $71.72 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $101.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.81. 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 capitalization of $106.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.