Cerity Partners LLC Sells 85,594 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,555 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 85,594 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $28,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 952.6% during the 2nd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its position in shares of NIKE by 53.1% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in 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 commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. KeyCorp set a $90.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $68.00 price target on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total value of $306,461.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,052.92. The trade was a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total value of $5,577,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 647,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,965,452. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $63.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.28. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $82.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. NIKE’s payout ratio is 84.10%.

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.