GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Sells 285,411 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,438,583 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 285,411 shares during the quarter. NIKE comprises about 4.3% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in NIKE were worth $60,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NIKE by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,453,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,342 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NIKE by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,315,606 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,802,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,494 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,126,246,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830,938 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in NIKE by 49,010.4% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,061,555,000 after purchasing an additional 47,956,692 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,677,251,000 after buying an additional 233,925 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $803,439.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,681.94. The trade was a 24.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Amy Montagne sold 4,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.05, for a total value of $204,657.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 57,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,183.80. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 26,142 shares of company stock valued at $1,169,380 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $40.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.73. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.11.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $120.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $47.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.53.

NIKE Profile

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).