Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Grows Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 91.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,402 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,533 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE 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 in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $65.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $97.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.05. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.95 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

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.