Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 4,018 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,882 shares of the footwear maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,018 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in NIKE by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 1st quarter worth $509,051,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in NIKE by 1,302.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,602,101 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $196,901,000 after buying an additional 2,416,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in NIKE by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,545,937 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,857,389,000 after buying an additional 2,288,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $7,951,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. This represents a 11.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.27. The company had a trading volume of 7,148,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,556,426. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $90.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company's 50-day moving average price is $66.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.32. The firm has a market cap of $112.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.25.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The footwear maker reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.69 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 6.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. NIKE's payout ratio is 74.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus upgraded shares of NIKE to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, June 27th. DZ Bank cut shares of NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.15.

About NIKE

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.