Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Buys New Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. opened a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter, buying 2.19 million shares valued at about $138.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their NIKE holdings, and hedge funds and institutions now own 64.25% of the company.
• NIKE’s latest quarterly results beat expectations with $0.35 EPS versus $0.29 estimated, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with a $62.04 target price.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,191,357 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $138,061,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. owned about 0.15% of NIKE as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NIKE by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $7,453,658,000 after buying an additional 1,702,342 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in NIKE by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 42,239,013 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,945,326,000 after buying an additional 286,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in NIKE by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,677,251,000 after buying an additional 233,925 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its position in NIKE by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 12,753,317 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $812,514,000 after buying an additional 2,886,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in NIKE by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,561,334 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $875,902,000 after buying an additional 404,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NKE. Guggenheim dropped their target price on NIKE from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $45.00 target price on NIKE and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson lowered NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on NIKE from $35.00 to $23.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, CEO Elliott Hill bought 23,660 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,108.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 265,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,211,990.69. The trade was a 9.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy D. Cook bought 25,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $42.43 per share, with a total value of $1,060,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 130,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,536,266.40. This trade represents a 23.70% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $46.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.35 and a 12 month high of $80.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.75 and a 200-day moving average of $56.76. The company has a market capitalization of $68.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 4.84%.The company had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 108.61%.

NIKE Company 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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