NIKE, Inc. $NKE Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 81.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 372,300 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,593,250 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $15,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NIKE from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $120.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.53.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, CFO Matthew Friend sold 2,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $102,460.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 82,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,064. The trade was a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $37,024.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,112,512. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 26,142 shares of company stock worth $1,169,380 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $40.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.11. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.73.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.47%.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).