Independent Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,729 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,253,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 49,010.4% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,061,555,000 after buying an additional 47,956,692 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $829,956,000. Harris Associates L P bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the second quarter worth $621,525,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in NIKE by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,126,246,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. increased its position in NIKE by 2,492.4% during the fourth quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,883,229 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $311,111,000 after acquiring an additional 4,694,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $803,439.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,453,681.94. The trade was a 24.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of several research reports. Williams Trading dropped their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Argus raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.80.

NIKE Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $43.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.69 and a 200 day moving average of $51.66. The company has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $80.17.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.09. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.47%.

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).