Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 663 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,152 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 663 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 52.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the second quarter worth $46,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $81.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.11.

NIKE Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $77.97 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.75 and a fifty-two week high of $123.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.33.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $11.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.85%.

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.