Tufton Capital Management Acquires 7,164 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Tufton Capital Management lifted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,315 shares of the footwear maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,164 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management's holdings in NIKE were worth $5,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in NIKE by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,749,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,898,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,376,558 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,915,110,000 after acquiring an additional 347,178 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in NIKE by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,545,937 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,857,389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288,627 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 620,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,126,288,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.27. 7,148,164 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,919,176. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $66.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.32. The company has a market cap of $112.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $90.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The footwear maker reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.07%.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $7,951,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. This trade represents a 11.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NKE. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NIKE from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.15.

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.