Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases Shares of 77,442 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 77,442 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,860,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the fourth 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 valued at $575,342,000 after buying an additional 6,507,856 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in NIKE by 358.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,438,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NKE. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.54.

NIKE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $73.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $101.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.64.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company 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.