Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,138,922 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,856,326 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.42% of NIKE worth $464,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in NIKE by 9.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 51,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,508,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its stake in NIKE by 49.6% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 13,592 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth about $1,688,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3,520.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,146 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $9,383,000 after buying an additional 103,214 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance started coverage on NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $63.32 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.92. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.76 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

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.