Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 37,434 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 843,891 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 37,434 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.06% of NIKE worth $63,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 613,530 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $46,426,000 after buying an additional 219,692 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $30,037,000. Riverwater Partners LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR boosted its position in NIKE by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 70,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,340,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $57.17 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.96 and a 200 day moving average of $76.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.50 and a twelve month high of $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Dbs Bank raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Company Profile

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.