Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 527,455 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 28,872 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in NIKE were worth $39,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,991 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,082 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 322,969 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 30,162 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 552.5% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 27,443 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 23,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 388.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $15,316,000 after acquiring an additional 160,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NIKE stock traded up $2.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.78. 16,632,550 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,978,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.00.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. NIKE's payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $64.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.26.

NIKE Company Profile

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.