Norges Bank Takes $1.13 Billion Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 14,884,203 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,126,288,000. Norges Bank owned 1.01% of NIKE as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $65.87 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $64.95 and a one year high of $98.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 53.16%.

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 value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Company 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.