Econ Financial Services Corp Makes New Investment in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Econ Financial Services Corp bought a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,801 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 6,029.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of NIKE by 358.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after buying an additional 2,357,745 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in NIKE by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth about $148,635,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $76.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.12. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.32 and a 52-week high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.