Nuance Investments LLC Sells 95,771 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Nuance Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 55.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,082 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 95,771 shares during the quarter. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $5,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth $835,063,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in NIKE by 3,129.9% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,091,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $645,855,000 after purchasing an additional 8,809,950 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P acquired a new stake in NIKE during the second quarter worth about $621,525,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,157,198 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $863,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,840,114 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in NIKE by 42.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,838,528 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $825,501,000 after buying an additional 3,518,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.97 per share, for a total transaction of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,220,155.60. This trade represents a 90.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,691 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.54 per share, for a total transaction of $500,080.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,491,079.22. This represents a 25.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 75,079 shares of company stock valued at $4,449,887. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE NKE opened at $63.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.27. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.19 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 5.43% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 target price on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.61.

NIKE Profile

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).