Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $2.35 Million Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,094 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,000. NIKE makes up approximately 0.9% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Banco de Sabadell S.A grew its holdings in NIKE by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 15,966 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $5,250,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $35,560,000. Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in NIKE by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 15,811 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE 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.