Horizon Investments LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,953 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709,985 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $575,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,929 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 358.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $228,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357,745 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $156,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE NKE opened at $73.28 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $101.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted 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. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NIKE 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.