Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Has $409,000 Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,410 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,216 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. grew its holdings in NIKE by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 19,323 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,709 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $9,376,000. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $598,000. Aviso Financial Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 21,785 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $33,121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, February 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.69.

NIKE Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $71.72 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.68 and its 200-day moving average is $77.86. The stock has a market cap of $106.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $101.92.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

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.