New England Research & Management Inc. Decreases Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

New England Research & Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,925 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,204,451,000 after purchasing an additional 251,411 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $910,801,000 after buying an additional 583,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,602,534 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $760,716,000 after buying an additional 117,187 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.32 and a 52-week high of $107.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Company 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.