NIKE, Inc. $NKE Shares Purchased by Conning Inc.

Key Points

• Conning Inc. increased its stake in NIKE, Inc. by 26.2% in Q2, holding 67,132 shares valued at approximately $4.77 million.
• Insider selling activity was reported, with Chairman Mark G. Parker selling 110,000 shares for about $7.95 million, resulting in an 11.55% decrease in his ownership.
• NIKE's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $0.49 EPS on revenues of $11.72 billion, indicating a 1.0% year-over-year growth.

Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 26.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,132 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 13,933 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 388.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $15,316,000 after acquiring an additional 160,980 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 12.1% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,705 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NIKE by 32.1% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 21,766 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 39.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,877 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 21.0% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,894,276.69. This represents a 11.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total transaction of $306,461.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,095,052.92. This represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 200,378 shares of company stock valued at $14,794,264 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Trading Down 4.1%

NYSE NKE opened at $65.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $84.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.57.

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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