Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 536,212 NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 536,212 shares of NIKE, Inc., worth about $34 million, marking a significant new investment in the footwear maker.
• In recent analyst updates, Citigroup raised its price target for NIKE from $57 to $68, while others like Piper Sandler increased their target to $80, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• NIKE's latest quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.14, exceeding estimates, but revenue declined by 11.9% year-over-year to $11.10 billion.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 536,212 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $34,039,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NKE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 344.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,694,842,000 after purchasing an additional 20,688,013 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,880,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,043,180 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $509,051,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $502,285,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NIKE by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,151,080 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $7,182,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,957,494 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total value of $6,535,902.54. Following the sale, the chairman owned 744,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,566,938.84. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NKE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. HSBC raised shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of NIKE from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.67.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.22. 9,967,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,240,910. The company has a market cap of $109.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $90.62. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $75.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.21.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The footwear maker reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The firm's revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio is 74.07%.

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.