Y.D. More Investments Ltd Raises Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,300 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in NIKE were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after buying an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in NIKE by 358.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after buying an additional 2,357,745 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,021 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth about $148,635,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $76.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.54 and a 200-day moving average of $78.09. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.32 and a 52-week high of $107.43.

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. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.