Birch Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Birch Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,953 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 2,524 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in NIKE during the third quarter valued at $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 52.6% in the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 52.2% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the second quarter worth about $49,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NKE. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.58.

NIKE Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $72.27. 6,899,857 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,611,612. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $107.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.93.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.