Bell Asset Management Ltd Sells 49,796 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Bell Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,850 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 49,796 shares during the quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Central Securities Corp acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,670,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its position in shares of NIKE by 95.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 513 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC raised its position in NIKE by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 12,274 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,638 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,693,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 842.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 107,873 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,163,000 after acquiring an additional 96,429 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra Research raised shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $57.17 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.50 and a 12 month high of $98.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.