Blue Trust Inc. Raises Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,984 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,384,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 60,642 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 19,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $74.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.95. 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 $70.32 and a 12-month high of $107.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.