Highland Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,180 shares of the footwear maker's stock after selling 12,973 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in NIKE were worth $5,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $516,166,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 358.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $5,140,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the third quarter valued at approximately $148,635,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at NIKE

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

NIKE Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE NKE traded up $1.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $78.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,166,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,945,879. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.95. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut NIKE from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.96.

NIKE 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.