Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 80,513 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 22,084 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $6,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased 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 owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $66.64 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. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.17 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.52 and a 200-day moving average of $77.21. The stock has a market cap of $98.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

About NIKE

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.