NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1,977.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,379,919 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,313,502 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in NIKE were worth $104,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NKE shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.54.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $73.78 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $101.92. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.71. The company has a market cap of $109.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.38%.

NIKE 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.