Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 51,045 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 325,550 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 51,045 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $24,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $64.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.65 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.72.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance assumed coverage on NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

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.