Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 32,446 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,475,948 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 32,446 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.44% of NIKE worth $490,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 599.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 797 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in NIKE by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 104,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,278,000 after purchasing an additional 11,108 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in NIKE by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 55,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Soros Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 36,804 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 35.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 104,300 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,220,000 after purchasing an additional 27,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $65.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.13. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.95 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NKE. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

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.