Clarius Group LLC Lowers Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in NIKE by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,599 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its stake in NIKE by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 25,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 883 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NKE shares. Citigroup cut their price target on NIKE from $115.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. HSBC lowered their target price on NIKE from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on NIKE from $118.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on NIKE from $115.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total value of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at $102,648,662.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total transaction of $8,026,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total value of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,648,662.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.95. 1,051,771 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,376,964. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.69. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $123.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.15 and a 200-day moving average of $91.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. NIKE had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 42.63%. The firm had revenue of $12.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.68%.

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.