Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 230,600 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 977,861 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 230,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.07% of NIKE worth $73,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 9,907 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 173,792 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $13,151,000 after acquiring an additional 77,044 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 26,027 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 3,961 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Global Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $37,656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NKE. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.19.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $57.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.33. The stock has a market cap of $84.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. NIKE's payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

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.

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