Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 41,708 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its NIKE stake by 22.8%, purchasing 41,708 shares to hold 224,938 shares worth about $14.33 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders and institutions have been buying recently—directors bought shares (11,781 and 4,000) and insiders acquired 64,441 shares over three months—while institutional ownership stands at 64.25%.
• Market and analyst backdrop: ratings are mixed (average rating "Hold" with a $62.34 price target), NIKE shares trade near $44.74 (12‑month low area), short interest rose ~22.8%, and the company has announced ~1,400 layoffs amid CEO and director buy-ins.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,938 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 41,708 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in NIKE were worth $14,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in NIKE by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 23,139 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management boosted its position in NIKE by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Columbia Asset Management now owns 96,327 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $6,137,000 after purchasing an additional 5,680 shares during the period. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in NIKE by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,382,589 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $87,086,000 after purchasing an additional 117,717 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in NIKE by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 21,902 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting NIKE

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "buy" on NKE, keeping institutional-level support for the turnaround thesis and signaling confidence from an influential sell-side shop. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: CEO-level confidence: reports say Nike's CEO personally increased a compensation/skin-in-the-game commitment by $1M, which investors often view as alignment with shareholder interests. MSN
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction to the latest cost actions was initially supportive: NKE ticked up after-hours when the company announced another round of layoffs, suggesting investors see near-term margin/cash-flow benefits. MSN After-hours
• Positive Sentiment: DZ Bank also reaffirmed a buy rating, adding a second endorsement from the sell-side that supports the case for recovery if execution improves. AmericanBankingNews
• Neutral Sentiment: Nike announced roughly 1,400 job cuts (mainly in technology) as part of its "Win Now" efficiency push — a move that should reduce costs but also underscores that the turnaround is still in progress. WSJ
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~22.8% in April to ~56.1M shares (≈3.8% of float), signaling growing bearish positioning and increased potential selling pressure despite a modest days-to-cover ratio (~1.4). (internal short-interest report)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst debate and structural concerns persist: commentary about a potential "generational reset" and multi-year share losses reflects skepticism that execution and product momentum will recover quickly. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure and talent migration (e.g., a former Nike executive named CEO at Lululemon) highlight market-share threats that could weigh on near-term sales recovery. FinancialPost

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.34.

NIKE Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $44.74 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $52.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.40. The company has a market cap of $66.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.31. 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 $42.09 and a 12-month high of $80.17.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. NIKE's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.61%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 11,781 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.44 per share, with a total value of $499,985.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 55,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,337,340.56. This trade represents a 27.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,777,893.48. This represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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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