KBC Group NV Reduces Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 80.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 421,823 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 1,689,885 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in NIKE were worth $31,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 52.2% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the second quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth $52,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NKE. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.96.

NIKE Stock Down 1.6 %

NKE traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.38. The company had a trading volume of 8,685,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,262,621. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.32 and a 52 week high of $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $110.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $75.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.95.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. NIKE's payout ratio is 49.38%.

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.