Exeter Financial LLC Takes $340,000 Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Exeter Financial LLC bought a new position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,490 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $9,987,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,628,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 246,080 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $18,621,000 after buying an additional 14,592 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in NIKE by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,680 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after buying an additional 13,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE stock opened at $72.16 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.75 and a 1 year high of $107.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.09.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler raised NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim lowered their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

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.