Newport Trust Company LLC Lowers Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its stake in NIKE, Inc. by 3.6%, currently holding approximately 5.85 million shares worth $371 million, making NIKE the 21st largest position in their portfolio.
• Institutional ownership of NIKE stands at 64.25%, with significant increases from firms like Goldman Sachs and Wellington Management, as well as new stakes from Jennison Associates and Nuveen.
• NIKE's latest earnings report showed a 14% increase in earnings per share compared to estimates, although revenue has dropped 11.9% year-over-year.

Newport Trust Company LLC lowered its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,849,978 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 219,490 shares during the period. NIKE makes up 1.0% of Newport Trust Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Newport Trust Company LLC owned about 0.40% of NIKE worth $371,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 344.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,694,842,000 after acquiring an additional 20,688,013 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,880,971,000 after acquiring an additional 9,043,180 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $509,051,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $502,285,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $76.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.21. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $90.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $72.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.68.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The footwear maker reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. NIKE had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm had revenue of $11.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 74.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total transaction of $6,535,902.54. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 744,988 shares in the company, valued at $56,566,938.84. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NIKE from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.22.

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.

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