Meitav Investment House Ltd. Increases Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in NIKE, Inc. by 9.0% during the second quarter, raising its total to 512,241 shares valued at approximately $36.39 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on NIKE, with a consensus target price set at $81.57, indicating strong bullish sentiment among market analysts.
• NIKE's recent earnings report showed that it beat estimates with a net income margin of 6.23% and revenue growth of 1.0% year-over-year, leading to earnings per share of $0.49.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 9.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,241 shares of the footwear maker's stock after buying an additional 42,203 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in NIKE were worth $36,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 952.6% during the second quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Matrix Trust Co boosted its holdings in NIKE by 53.1% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 441 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cowen upgraded shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.57.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $71.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.46 and a 200 day moving average of $67.26. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $84.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.19.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. NIKE's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

NIKE 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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