VELA Investment Management LLC Increases Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

VELA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 156.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,356 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,672 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $79.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $105.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.29. The firm has a market cap of $118.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

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.