Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Purchases Shares of 101,008 NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 101,008 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 952.6% in the second quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in NIKE by 53.1% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. The trade was a 11.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total transaction of $306,461.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,052.92. The trade was a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 200,378 shares of company stock worth $14,794,264. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $68.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.57.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $65.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $96.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $84.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

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.