Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 1,184,252 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,209,868 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,184,252 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.48% of NIKE worth $637,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of NIKE by 51.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 825 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in NIKE by 86.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,957 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 9,689 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the 1st quarter valued at about $127,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 14,326 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its position in shares of NIKE by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,765,315 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $447,844,000 after buying an additional 50,821 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NIKE from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.30.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $75.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $112.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.78. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.39.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.41%.

About NIKE

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.