NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Weatherly Asset Management L. P.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,662 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,249 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 36,985 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,799,000 after purchasing an additional 17,835 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,397 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 14,761 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,123,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $373,000. Finally, International Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $547,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.62.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $70.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.09. The company has a market cap of $104.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.