Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,737 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Ecofi Investissements SA purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $75.69 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.32 and a 52-week high of $107.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.45 and its 200 day moving average is $77.94. 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 company has a market capitalization of $111.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

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.