Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 7,874 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,365 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 7,874 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in NIKE were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 5,745.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock opened at $76.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.06. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $106.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About NIKE

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.