NIKE, Inc. $NKE Position Trimmed by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,186,755 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 534,462 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in NIKE were worth $521,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,453,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,342 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in NIKE by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 42,239,013 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,945,326,000 after purchasing an additional 286,615 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in NIKE by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 12,753,317 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $812,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,856 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in NIKE by 3.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,561,334 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $875,902,000 after purchasing an additional 404,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in NIKE by 29.1% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 8,996,579 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $627,331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029,381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, CEO Elliott Hill purchased 23,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.27 per share, with a total value of $1,000,108.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 265,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,211,990.69. The trade was a 9.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.34 per share, with a total value of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,022 shares in the company, valued at $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE stock opened at $44.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.17. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.35 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NKE. Wells Fargo & Company set a $45.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.04.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).