Allstate Corp Acquires New Shares in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 35,310 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,672,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $63.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.93. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.14 and a 12 month high of $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.65 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 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 earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NKE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Cfra Research raised shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

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

NIKE Company 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.