DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 313,694 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in NIKE were worth $23,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $63.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $93.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.14 and a 12 month high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.