NIKE Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 158,594 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 95,367 call options.

More NIKE News

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook (Nike director and Apple CEO) disclosed an open?market purchase of 50,000 shares (~$2.95M), a high?visibility vote of confidence that helped lift pre?market momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,691 shares (~$500k), increasing his stake materially — another insider accumulation that reinforces the positive sentiment from Cook’s trade. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Media and pundit commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) has highlighted a potential multi?quarter recovery scenario, which can amplify retail buying following the insider headlines. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market roundups and analyst notes summarize mixed fundamentals and context (some firms still rate NKE a buy while others are cautious) — useful background but not a single catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and reports flag structural issues: margin compression, elevated payout ratio and weak China sales — risks that could cap upside even with short?term buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Post?earnings weakness (China decline, softer guidance) has already pushed shares below technical support, creating the backdrop for the earlier selloff that insiders appear to be buying into. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Berenberg Bank restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $90.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.97 per share, for a total transaction of $2,948,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,220,155.60. The trade was a 90.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total value of $5,577,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 647,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,965,452. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 74,841 shares of company stock worth $4,451,334. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NIKE in the 2nd quarter worth about $835,063,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of NIKE by 3,129.9% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,091,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $645,855,000 after buying an additional 8,809,950 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the second quarter valued at approximately $621,525,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,157,198 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $863,647,000 after buying an additional 4,840,114 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,838,528 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $825,501,000 after buying an additional 3,518,666 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE stock traded up $2.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.18. The stock had a trading volume of 21,016,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,471,836. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.41. NIKE has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $88.96 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. NIKE had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 5.43%.The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).