IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Takes $2.50 Million Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd acquired a new position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 33,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,497,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of NIKE by 599.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 797 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in NIKE by 11.8% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 104,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after acquiring an additional 11,108 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its holdings in NIKE by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 55,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 36,804 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of NIKE by 35.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 104,300 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $9,220,000 after purchasing an additional 27,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $65.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.95 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.42 and a 200 day moving average of $77.13. The firm has a market cap of $97.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 2.43%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research raised shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given 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 target price of $87.38.

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.