Ballentine Partners LLC Cuts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,636 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 5,568 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 3.1% in the third quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,340 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in NIKE by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 4,861 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,077 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,599 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its stake in NIKE by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 25,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $97.54. The company had a trading volume of 747,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,115,757. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.66 and a 1-year high of $123.39. The firm has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.29. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.41% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.28 billion. Research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total value of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at $102,648,662.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at $102,648,662.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Johanna Nielsen sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total value of $26,406.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,357.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 213,660 shares of company stock worth $19,946,333 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NKE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on NIKE from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on NIKE from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded NIKE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.81.

NIKE 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.