NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by Polen Capital Management LLC

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,607 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 6.6% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,749 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 6,765 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 7.8% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,792 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 10.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,214 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,243 shares during the period. Finally, Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in NIKE by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 441,625 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $39,040,000 after purchasing an additional 39,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKE. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.69.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $71.72 on Monday. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $101.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $106.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.77.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.