Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,363,849 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 8,740 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of NIKE worth $95,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth $835,063,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in NIKE by 3,129.9% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,091,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $645,855,000 after acquiring an additional 8,809,950 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P acquired a new stake in NIKE in the second quarter worth about $621,525,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 66.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,157,198 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $863,647,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 42.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,838,528 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $825,501,000 after acquiring an additional 3,518,666 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $62.19 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $82.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $92.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. NIKE had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 5.43%.The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.97 per share, for a total transaction of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 105,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,220,155.60. This represents a 90.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total transaction of $5,577,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 647,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,965,452. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 91,229 shares of company stock valued at $5,452,640 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $75.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 target price on NIKE and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.61.

NIKE Profile

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).