Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of NIKE Call Options (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 148,154 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the typical daily volume of 103,393 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Prostatis Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 13,705 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,258 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $358,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $63.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.94. 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 stock has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a twelve month low of $63.14 and a twelve month high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

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.