Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 55,661 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lowered its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 40.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,880 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 55,661 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 548 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NKE. UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on NIKE from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price target on NIKE from $67.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on NIKE from $55.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.74.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $62.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.12. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $43.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.42. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $80.17.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.47%.

Insider Activity 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,681.94. The trade was a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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).