Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 2,600 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,311 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,376,558 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,915,110,000 after purchasing an additional 347,178 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in NIKE by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,545,937 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,857,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,627 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,126,288,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Down 3.8%

NIKE stock opened at $60.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.21. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $98.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day moving average of $68.73.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.26.

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.