Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Purchases New Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Gamco Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in NIKE, Inc., purchasing 5,185 shares valued at approximately $329,000 in the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their holdings in NIKE significantly, with Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raising its stake by 450.7% to own over 1.17 million shares valued at $74.4 million.
• NIKE announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, representing a 2.1% yield, to be paid on October 1st, with a payout ratio of 74.07%.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,185 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 74.4% in the first quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,304 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 450.7% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,172,014 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $74,399,000 after purchasing an additional 959,201 shares in the last quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 59.6% in the first quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 63,716 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $4,045,000 after purchasing an additional 23,802 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.6% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 281,486 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $17,869,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 41.2% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 99,009 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $6,285,000 after purchasing an additional 28,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKE. UBS Group began coverage on shares of NIKE in a report on Sunday, July 6th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NIKE from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 744,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,566,938.84. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $77.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.90. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $90.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.27.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The footwear maker reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $11.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 74.07%.

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.

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