Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 16,003 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,012,770 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 16,003 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of NIKE worth $227,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.05. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $107.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

NIKE 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.