Griffin Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,480 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,406 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1,302.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,602,101 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $196,901,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,601 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 310,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $23,458,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,081,021 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $460,160,000 after purchasing an additional 463,470 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 432,400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $32,720,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 237,199 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $18,042,000 after buying an additional 7,536 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $60.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.73. The company has a market cap of $89.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.21. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NIKE from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cfra Research raised NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Williams Trading dropped their price target on NIKE from $93.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company 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.