Danske Bank A S Buys 39,463 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Danske Bank A S increased its NIKE stake by 7% in Q4, buying 39,463 shares to hold 605,206 shares worth about $38.56 million at the end of the period.
• Company insiders are adding to positions — Director Timothy D. Cook bought 25,000 shares at ~$42.43 and Robert Holmes Swan bought 11,781 shares; insiders purchased 64,441 shares over the last 90 days (0.80% of shares outstanding).
• Analysts are split (17 Buy, 17 Hold, 2 Sell) with an average rating of "Hold" and a $62.34 average price target; NIKE recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and pays a 3.7% dividend but is trading near its 12‑month low.

Danske Bank A S boosted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 605,206 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 39,463 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S's holdings in NIKE were worth $38,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 388.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $15,316,000 after acquiring an additional 160,980 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $311,000. United Bank raised its position in NIKE by 11.3% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,067 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in NIKE by 0.3% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 64,161 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in NIKE by 6.5% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 191,268 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $13,588,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on NIKE from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $65.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.34.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director Timothy D. Cook bought 25,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.43 per share, with a total value of $1,060,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 130,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,536,266.40. The trade was a 23.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 11,781 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $42.44 per share, with a total value of $499,985.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 55,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,340.56. This trade represents a 27.21% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE NKE opened at $44.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.09 and a twelve month high of $80.17. The company has a market cap of $65.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.12. The business's fifty day moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day moving average is $59.75.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 4.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. NIKE's payout ratio is 108.61%.

NIKE Profile

Nike, Inc NYSE: NKE is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).

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