Smart Portfolios LLC Decreases Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Smart Portfolios LLC decreased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 455 shares during the quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $575,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507,856 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in NIKE by 18.1% during the 4th 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. boosted its position in NIKE by 358.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $156,438,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $74.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $102.49. The company has a market capitalization of $109.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

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.