Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC Sells 13,138 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC decreased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,861,101 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 13,138 shares during the period. NIKE makes up about 3.3% of Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $129,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 697.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 228,889 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,960,000 after buying an additional 200,187 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 302,320 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $21,477,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 104,791 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after buying an additional 37,019 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 238.8% during the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 141,356 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,042,000 after buying an additional 99,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 28.3% during the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 221,117 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,708,000 after buying an additional 48,764 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $77.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.65.

NIKE Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE NKE opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $82.44. The stock has a market cap of $96.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.16.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.16. NIKE had a net margin of 5.43% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total transaction of $5,577,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 647,615 shares in the company, valued at $41,965,452. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 16,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $62.09 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,753.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,327,980.92. The trade was a 308.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders bought 91,229 shares of company stock worth $5,452,640. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company 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).