Rovida Advisors Inc. Takes $13.25 Million Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 175,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $13,246,000. NIKE makes up approximately 10.3% of Rovida Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in NIKE during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NKE opened at $66.64 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.17 and a twelve month high of $98.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.21.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

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.