Vest Financial LLC Cuts Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 46.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,473 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 208,097 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in NIKE were worth $14,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1,302.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,602,101 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $196,901,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,601 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its position in NIKE by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 310,000 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $23,458,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in NIKE by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,081,021 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $460,160,000 after buying an additional 463,470 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 432,400 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $32,720,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 237,199 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $18,042,000 after buying an additional 7,536 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NKE. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Cfra Research raised NIKE to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.26.

NIKE Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $62.82 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $58.86 and its 200 day moving average is $69.22. The stock has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.21. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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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