NIKE, Inc. $NKE Stock Position Boosted by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,858,784 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,612 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in NIKE were worth $132,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 388.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,316,000 after purchasing an additional 160,980 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,705 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 21,766 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,877 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cowen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total value of $6,535,902.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 744,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,566,938.84. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total value of $306,461.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,095,052.92. This represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 200,378 shares of company stock worth $14,794,264 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 4.1%

NKE opened at $65.25 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $84.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.28. The company has a market capitalization of $96.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

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.