Argent Advisors Inc. Sells 977 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Argent Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,909 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 977 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 117.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NKE shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.54.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $73.78 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $109.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.71. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $101.92.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.