BNP Paribas Lowers Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

BNP Paribas reduced its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 70.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,869 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 18,386 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in NIKE were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,789,888 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $177,744,000 after buying an additional 62,483 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 731,159 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $46,582,000 after acquiring an additional 107,282 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in NIKE by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,555 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its position in NIKE by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 5,506 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in NIKE by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 48,719 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 25,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,022 shares in the company, valued at $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 11,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.44 per share, for a total transaction of $499,985.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 55,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,340.56. This represents a 27.21% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Trading Down 4.8%

NYSE NKE opened at $43.72 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.35 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s payout ratio is 108.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $69.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $69.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.04.

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).