Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $9.76 Million Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 129,031 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 8,093 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $9,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in NIKE by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

NIKE Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $77.76 on Thursday. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.62 and a 52 week high of $102.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.25. 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 market cap of $115.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About NIKE

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.