Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 65.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,622 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,618 shares during the quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 52.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $78.28 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $115.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.95. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.32 and a fifty-two week high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

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.