NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Position Reduced by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 458,743 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 51,645 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in NIKE were worth $34,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a "hold" rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Cfra Research raised NIKE to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. This trade represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:NKE traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.15. The stock had a trading volume of 10,448,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,333,134. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $67.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.17. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The company has a market capitalization of $84.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. 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 (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

NIKE 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.