Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,628,256 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,418,839 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of NIKE worth $577,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in NIKE by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on NKE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research upgraded NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $63.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.82. 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 $62.65 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value 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 approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.