Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 10.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,073,621 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,901 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $109,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NIKE by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,453,658,000 after buying an additional 1,702,342 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in NIKE by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,315,606 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,802,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,494 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,126,246,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830,938 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 49,010.4% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,061,555,000 after acquiring an additional 47,956,692 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,677,251,000 after purchasing an additional 233,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on NIKE from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Evercore set a $46.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $803,439.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,453,681.94. This represents a 24.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 0.9%

NKE opened at $42.07 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.09. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 78.47%.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).