NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 96.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,437 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after selling 1,394,923 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in NIKE by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in NIKE by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,997,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143,775 shares during the period. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new position in NIKE in the first quarter worth $533,533,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in NIKE by 612.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $487,327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457,376 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 45.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,859,580 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $832,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NKE. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on NIKE from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on NIKE from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on NIKE from $118.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (down from $116.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.59.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $79.82 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.47. The stock has a market cap of $120.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $12.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.86 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 42.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.68%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 2,941 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $226,515.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,260.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 2,941 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $226,515.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,260.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,435,628. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.