Candriam S.C.A. Has $10.56 Million Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 60.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 151,364 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 233,934 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $10,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 0.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,823,785 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,086,042,000 after acquiring an additional 672,705 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of NIKE by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,154,159 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,225,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,603 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $863,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,840,114 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,838,528 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $825,501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,518,666 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $835,063,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $62.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.05. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $82.44. The company has a market cap of $93.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.19 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 5.43% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Bank of America lowered their target price on NIKE from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $67.00 price target on NIKE in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.54 per share, for a total transaction of $500,080.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 43,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,491,079.22. The trade was a 25.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Elliott Hill purchased 16,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $61.10 per share, with a total value of $1,001,306.80. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 241,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,760,965.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 75,079 shares of company stock worth $4,449,887 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About NIKE

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).