KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 467,858 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $35,560,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,541,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 358.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,438,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $98.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NKE. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Fifteen investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

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.