Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 396,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $30,037,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in NIKE by 358.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357,745 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NKE. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Dbs Bank upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $57.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.30. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.50 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.16%.

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.