NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Bought by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,384 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,634 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,384,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 60,642 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 19,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $73.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $108.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.32 and a 12-month high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group cut NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, 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. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.