Guardian Partners Inc. Takes Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 73,643 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,250,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.70 and a 200 day moving average of $77.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.