Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Sells 1,738 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,858 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its stake in NIKE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in NIKE by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in NIKE by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on NKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Fourteen research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 3.0 %

NKE stock opened at $73.78 on Tuesday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.71. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $101.92. The stock has a market cap of $109.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.