Appleton Partners Inc. MA Buys 12,802 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Appleton Partners Inc. significantly increased its stake in NIKE, Inc. by 377.3%, acquiring an additional 12,802 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 16,195 shares valued at $1,150,000.
• Goldman Sachs and Wellington Management are among the hedge funds that have also notably increased their stakes in NIKE, with Goldman Sachs growing its position by 344.2% in the first quarter.
• NIKE has received favorable analyst ratings, with several brokerage firms setting price targets between $72.00 and $115.00, contributing to a consensus target of $81.57.

Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 377.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,195 shares of the footwear maker's stock after acquiring an additional 12,802 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in NIKE were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 344.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,694,842,000 after acquiring an additional 20,688,013 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $509,051,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at $502,285,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,151,080 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $7,182,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,957,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NKE. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, September 29th. HSBC upgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. The trade was a 11.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

NIKE Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE NKE opened at $71.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $84.76. The company has a market cap of $105.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The business's fifty day moving average is $74.46 and its 200 day moving average is $67.26.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.NIKE's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. NIKE's payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NKE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.