Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 51,045 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 325,550 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 51,045 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC's holdings in NIKE were worth $24,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its position in NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NKE. Bank of America cut their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.38.

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NIKE Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NKE stock traded up $1.59 on Friday, reaching $57.17. 67,715,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,447,552. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $52.50 and a one year high of $98.04. The stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.30.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

About NIKE

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.