Nicholas Company Inc. Purchases 6,297 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Nicholas Company Inc. raised its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,297 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $5,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of NIKE by 6.6% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,749 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its position in NIKE by 9.6% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 6,765 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 7.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,792 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in NIKE by 7.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 185,320 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $16,382,000 after acquiring an additional 12,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 5.8% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,852 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.69.

NIKE Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $71.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $101.92. The firm has a market cap of $106.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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.