Perpetual Ltd Trims Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd reduced its stake in NIKE, Inc. by 58.6%, bringing its holdings to 6,848 shares, valued at approximately $486,000.
• Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares worth nearly $7.95 million, resulting in an 11.55% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Analysts have upgraded NIKE's stock ratings, with Royal Bank of Canada raising its price target from $76.00 to $90.00, highlighting growing investor confidence.

Perpetual Ltd lessened its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 58.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,848 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 9,688 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in NIKE were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 24.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 344.2% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 24.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NIKE from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Cowen raised shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total transaction of $6,535,902.54. Following the sale, the chairman owned 744,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,566,938.84. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NIKE stock traded up $0.40 on Monday, reaching $71.29. 12,134,877 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,800,166. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $90.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.24.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 74.07%.

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.