Norges Bank Takes Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,884,203 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,126,288,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $150,000. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $2,497,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,809 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 17,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in NIKE by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 162,825 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $12,321,000 after purchasing an additional 17,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $65.87 on Friday. 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 one year low of $64.95 and a one year high of $98.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.05.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

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.