Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Increases Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 118,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,740 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $78.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $116.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $102.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.18.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.