Asset Dedication LLC Trims Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Asset Dedication LLC reduced its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 47.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,390 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 11,364 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,915,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,642 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 670,616 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $50,746,000 after buying an additional 104,786 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 460,462 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $34,843,000 after buying an additional 27,566 shares during the period. Finally, Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. increased its stake in NIKE by 88.0% in the 4th quarter. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. now owns 117,903 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $8,922,000 after buying an additional 55,202 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $113.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.32 and a 1-year high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Telsey Advisory Group cut shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.96.

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.