Vantage Investment Partners LLC Acquires 12,339 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 582,823 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 12,339 shares during the period. NIKE comprises 2.5% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $37,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP bought a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,200,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $43,188,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,743,000. Nicholas Company Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 123,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its stake in NIKE by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 431,055 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $27,463,000 after purchasing an additional 193,514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. CICC Research lowered shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $69.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.04.

NIKE Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NKE stock opened at $44.70 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.35 and a 52-week high of $80.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.32. The company has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 11,781 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $42.44 per share, for a total transaction of $499,985.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 55,074 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,340.56. This represents a 27.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Elliott Hill purchased 23,660 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.27 per share, with a total value of $1,000,108.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 265,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,211,990.69. This trade represents a 9.79% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).