NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,901 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,956 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $5,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NKE shares. Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

NIKE Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $79.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.33. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $105.57. The company has a market capitalization of $117.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.