Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,535 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in NIKE during the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $65.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.05. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.95 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its 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. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’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 transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.