Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,355,842 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 531,767 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.50% of NIKE worth $388,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 388.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,316,000 after acquiring an additional 160,980 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the first quarter valued at about $311,000. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 11.3% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,067 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 0.3% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 64,161 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,558,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of NIKE by 6.5% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 191,268 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $13,588,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (down from $72.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.74.

NIKE Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NKE stock opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.12. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $80.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.42.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.47%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $803,439.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,453,681.94. This represents a 24.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% 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).