Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,503,841 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 618,169 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.37% of NIKE worth $416,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 410,249 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,262,000 after purchasing an additional 86,256 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 10,537 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. Certuity LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 12,877 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 4,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 469,459 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $35,524,000 after buying an additional 27,834 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.62.

NIKE Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NKE opened at $72.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.08. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $107.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $106.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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.