Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,129 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 4,338 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in NIKE by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 358.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $228,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357,745 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,438,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.46. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.17 and a 1-year high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.