German American Bancorp Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

German American Bancorp Inc. cut its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,212 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 11,305 shares during the quarter. German American Bancorp Inc.'s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 188.6% during the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 111,706 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $8,453,000 after purchasing an additional 73,005 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 1,302.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,602,101 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $196,901,000 after buying an additional 2,416,601 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in NIKE by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,265,182 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $95,736,000 after acquiring an additional 219,511 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its position in NIKE by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 1,236 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,213,803 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $470,199,000 after purchasing an additional 688,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.44. The company had a trading volume of 22,585,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,024,007. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.28 and a 12-month high of $98.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.93. The company has a market capitalization of $80.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.19.

Insider Activity

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

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.