Empirical Finance LLC Sells 623 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,051 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NKE. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 52.6% in the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.62 and a 1-year high of $107.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.01. 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 (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.