GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Cuts Stake in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• GUARDCAP Asset Management cut its NIKE stake by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 558,974 shares and ending with 3,083,426 shares valued at about $196.6 million.
• Insiders were buying: Director John W. Rogers Jr. and CEO Elliott Hill both purchased shares in April, and insiders bought 64,441 shares over the last three months.
• NIKE reported quarterly EPS of $0.35, beating estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $62.04 target price; the shares last traded at $46.21.

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lowered its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,083,426 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 558,974 shares during the quarter. NIKE makes up approximately 5.3% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd owned about 0.21% of NIKE worth $196,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in NIKE in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in NIKE in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 268.6% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in NIKE by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 596 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.34 per share, with a total value of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Elliott Hill purchased 23,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $42.27 per share, with a total value of $1,000,108.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 265,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,211,990.69. This trade represents a 9.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on NIKE from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on NIKE from $35.00 to $23.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $45.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on NIKE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.04.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $46.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.75 and a 200 day moving average of $56.76. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.35 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.61%.

NIKE Company 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).

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