Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,542 shares of the footwear maker's stock after acquiring an additional 6,956 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in NIKE were worth $12,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 177,009 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $11,236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,748 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 6,184 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Matauro LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,224,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,322,000. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 17,475 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on NIKE from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on NIKE from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.26.

NIKE Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded down $2.36 on Friday, reaching $60.44. 16,491,618 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,169,340. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $59.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.73. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE's quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 31,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. This trade represents a 36.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.