Excalibur Management Corp Grows Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Excalibur Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,784 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in NIKE were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 91.3% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 7,402 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 3,533 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $666,000. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 25,535 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in NIKE by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 80,513 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 22,084 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $66.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.52 and its 200 day moving average is $77.21. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

About NIKE

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.