Norges Bank Takes Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter, buying 13.0 million shares worth about $830 million. The stake represented roughly 0.88% of the company.
• NIKE continues to attract major institutional interest, with firms like Vanguard and Geode also adding shares; overall, about 64.25% of the stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock after recent updates, with the consensus rating at Hold and an average price target of $62.04. NIKE recently traded around $46.21 after reporting earnings that beat EPS estimates and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share.

Norges Bank bought a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,027,095 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $829,956,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.88% of NIKE as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $7,453,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,342 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in NIKE by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 42,239,013 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,945,326,000 after purchasing an additional 286,615 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in NIKE by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,677,251,000 after purchasing an additional 233,925 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its position in NIKE by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 12,753,317 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $812,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,856 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,561,334 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $875,902,000 after purchasing an additional 404,136 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson lowered NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.04.

NIKE Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:NKE opened at $46.21 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.35 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $45.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.76.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. NIKE's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 11,781 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $42.44 per share, for a total transaction of $499,985.64. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 55,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,340.56. This represents a 27.21% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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