Wills Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 6,485 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Key Points

• Wills Financial Group LLC has acquired 6,485 shares of NIKE, Inc., valued at approximately $412,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Recent changes in institutional holdings show that several hedge funds, including Heck Capital Advisors and EnRich Financial Partners, have increased their stakes in NIKE.
• Analyst ratings for NIKE are largely optimistic, with 17 analysts

Wills Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,485 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 412 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 52.1% in the first quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 587 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 513 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NIKE stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.17. The stock had a trading volume of 6,607,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,157,150. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $90.62. The firm has a market cap of $109.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50-day moving average is $69.43 and its 200 day moving average is $67.63.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. NIKE's payout ratio is 74.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. This trade represents a 11.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NKE. Williams Trading decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $93.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of NIKE from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NIKE from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on NIKE in a research report on Sunday, July 6th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.22.

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.