Swedbank AB Sells 53,675 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 926,985 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 53,675 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in NIKE were worth $70,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 52.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in NIKE in the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Up 3.0 %

NKE opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.96. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.