NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Stock Holdings Lessened by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,211 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 4,421 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after buying an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 358.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after buying an additional 2,357,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $156,438,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.54.

NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock opened at $72.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $101.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.60.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research 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, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.