GFS Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

GFS Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 23.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,022 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 39,066 shares during the quarter. GFS Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 732 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank raised its stake in NIKE by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 750 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NKE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on NIKE from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $67.00 price objective on NIKE in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.61.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $61.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.97. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $82.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for 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%. NIKE’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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).