What happened
Insiders at publicly traded companies unload their stock frequently for various reasons, so such a move is rarely noteworthy. When such a dispersal is relatively large and made by a towering figure at a business, however, that can be a different story.
This seemed to be the case with Nike (NKE 0.95%) on Thursday, following the unloading of a pile of shares from the most towering figure possible at the company.
So what
In a regulatory filing published after market hours on Wednesday, Nike co-founder, longtime CEO, and current emeritus chairman of the board of directors Phil Knight reported the move. He disclosed that 5 million of the company's class B shares were given to a charitable organization last Friday, Jan. 13. As the amount of the sale was $0, this clearly represented a donation to that entity.
The organization was not identified, but Knight said in the filing that he and his spouse serve as directors there.
Thursday's sell-off was also likely due to profit-taking by certain investors, as Nike's share price has raced nearly 60% higher since hitting a one-year low last September. A solid and growth-packed second quarter of fiscal 2023 reported in November has helped juice investor optimism in the athletic shoe and apparel maker's future.
Now what
Although Knight appears to have had the purest of motives in giving away his stock, it's typical for investors to be somewhat nervous whenever a big chunk of shares suddenly and unexpectedly gets put into different hands. That goes double when the giver is not only an important (former) executive, but the person many identify as a major source of the company's success.
