Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,144 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 6,040 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in NIKE were worth $7,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,342,012,000 after purchasing an additional 501,792 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in NIKE by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $832,785,000 after purchasing an additional 571,544 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 45.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,859,580 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $832,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,510 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in NIKE by 0.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,025,616 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $454,151,000 after purchasing an additional 52,500 shares during the period. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in NIKE during the first quarter worth about $533,533,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,435,628. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $83.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $125.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.38. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.75 and a 12-month high of $123.39.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $11.59 billion for 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%. The company’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 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on NKE shares. Williams Trading upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Daiwa America lowered shares of NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.56.

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.