NIKE, Inc. $NKE Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,547 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in NIKE were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NIKE by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,151,080 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,182,831,000 after buying an additional 4,957,494 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in NIKE by 24.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,880,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,043,180 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 344.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,694,842,000 after purchasing an additional 20,688,013 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in NIKE by 3.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,988,207 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,332,331,000 after purchasing an additional 620,214 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in NIKE by 24.0% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 10,286,619 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $652,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988,547 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total value of $306,461.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,052.92. This represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $7,951,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 842,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,894,276.69. The trade was a 11.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 200,378 shares of company stock valued at $14,794,264 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NIKE from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Argus raised NIKE to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.57.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $68.09 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $84.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.The business 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 business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

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.