Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Purchases 3,533 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 91.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,402 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,533 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of NIKE by 599.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 797 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in NIKE by 35.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 104,300 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,220,000 after purchasing an additional 27,400 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 13.5% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 21,978 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 29.3% during the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 78,784 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 17,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 548,318 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $48,471,000 after purchasing an additional 24,614 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $65.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.95 and a 52-week high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

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.