Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 31,142 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 615,041 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 31,142 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $42,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 388.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,316,000 after purchasing an additional 160,980 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the first quarter worth about $226,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 4.7% in the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,676 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 135.1% during the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on NKE. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NIKE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “positive” rating to a “mixed” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 16,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $62.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,753.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,327,980.92. This represents a 308.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total value of $306,461.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,095,052.92. This trade represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $65.77 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $82.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.41. The company has a market cap of $97.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.16. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. NIKE’s payout ratio is 84.10%.

NIKE Company 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.