Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $141 Million Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,863,391 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 102,877 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in NIKE were worth $141,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its position in NIKE by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $65.76 on Thursday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.95 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The company has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This 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 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.