Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 44.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,842 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,934 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in NIKE by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,417 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in NIKE by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,689 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,478 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,028,131 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 166,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in NIKE by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,209,868 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $637,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,252 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NKE shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This 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 Price Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.46. The firm has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.17 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.