Vest Financial LLC Purchases 119,449 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 36.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 443,570 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,449 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $33,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

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

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.05. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $107.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.62.

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.