United Bank Buys 887 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

United Bank boosted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,413 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 887 shares during the quarter. United Bank’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Fifteen equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $63.32 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.16 and its 200-day moving average is $76.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.14 and a 12-month high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

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.