Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Whittier Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,288 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 16,460 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $5,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in NIKE during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth 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 acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.54.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $71.61 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.66 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business 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 business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 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.