Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 8,898,591 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,898,591 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,749,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its position in NIKE by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in NIKE by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in NIKE by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the 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 owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on NKE. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Down 3.8 %

NIKE stock opened at $63.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.76 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.16 and its 200-day moving average is $76.92. The company has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

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.