NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Stock Position Reduced by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,880 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,635 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $71.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.09. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.62 and a 12 month high of $107.43. 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 company has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.