Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Boosts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,688 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garrison Point Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 1.9% during the third quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 20.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 768 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 26.3% during the third quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 1.2% during the third quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 11,430 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 1.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Williams Trading raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.86.

NIKE Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE NKE opened at $77.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.51 and a 200 day moving average of $82.59. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.75 and a 1 year high of $123.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $11.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 42.41%.

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.