Aviva PLC Purchases 219,692 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 55.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613,530 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 219,692 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $46,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,594,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 14.8% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,442 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 14.0% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395,123 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $34,929,000 after purchasing an additional 48,473 shares during the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 86,831 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,676,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,676,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $57.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.50 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.30.

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 company 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%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.