Natural Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 17,730 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,730 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its stake in NIKE by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.7% in the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

NIKE Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $76.35 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $102.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.09. The stock has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 2.52 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.