Investors Purchase High Volume of NIKE Put Options (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 149,261 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the typical volume of 94,115 put options.

Insider Activity at NIKE

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. One Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 11,519 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 5,854 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 7,537 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 0.4% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 40,170 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,035,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in NIKE by 1.3% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 376,060 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after buying an additional 4,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden grew its stake in NIKE by 20.4% during the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 223,387 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $16,837,000 after buying an additional 37,800 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $71.11. The stock had a trading volume of 13,673,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,236,825. The company has a market cap of $105.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America decreased their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

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.