Verity & Verity LLC Acquires New Shares in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,670 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,425,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,204,451,000 after purchasing an additional 251,411 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in NIKE by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $832,785,000 after purchasing an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $910,801,000 after purchasing an additional 583,207 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $70.89 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.87 and a 200-day moving average of $77.96. 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 twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The firm has a market cap of $104.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.