HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,593,250 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors sharply reduced its NIKE stake by 81.1% in the second quarter, selling 1,593,250 shares and retaining 372,300 shares valued at approximately $15.3 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $53.53. NIKE’s shares opened at $40.73, near their 52-week low of $40.00.
• NIKE beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.20 versus $0.11 projected, though revenue fell 1.1% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, representing a 4.0% annualized yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 81.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 372,300 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 1,593,250 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in NIKE were worth $15,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in NIKE by 108.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 548 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NKE. Berenberg Bank set a $49.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. UBS Group set a $48.00 price target on NIKE and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen raised NIKE from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded NIKE from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.53.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy sold 890 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $37,024.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 74,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,512. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Amy Montagne sold 4,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.05, for a total value of $204,657.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,436 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,183.80. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 26,142 shares of company stock valued at $1,169,380 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

NIKE Stock Down 1.2%

NKE stock opened at $40.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.11. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.90 and a 200 day moving average of $48.73.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. NIKE's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. NIKE's payout ratio is 78.47%.

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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