Aberdeen Group plc Sells 17,222 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,841,562 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 17,222 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.12% of NIKE worth $127,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 0.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,823,785 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $8,086,042,000 after buying an additional 672,705 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NIKE by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,154,159 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,225,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590,603 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,157,198 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $863,647,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840,114 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,518,666 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NIKE during the second quarter worth $835,063,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Barclays reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler set a $75.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Berenberg Bank restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, CEO Elliott Hill acquired 16,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $61.10 per share, with a total value of $1,001,306.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 241,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,760,965.70. This trade represents a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,691 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.54 per share, for a total transaction of $500,080.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 43,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,491,079.22. This represents a 25.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 75,079 shares of company stock worth $4,449,887 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 3.2%

NKE stock opened at $63.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.27. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $82.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.78.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.47%.

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).