Woodline Partners LP Acquires 32,489 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in NIKE, Inc. by 48.3%, acquiring an additional 32,489 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 99,797 shares worth approximately $6.3 million.
• Multiple institutional investors made substantial adjustments to their positions in NIKE, including Goldman Sachs, which boosted its holdings by 344.2%, now owning nearly 26.7 million shares valued at about $1.69 billion.
• NIKE recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, with an annualized yield of 2.2%, and reported earnings of $0.14 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.

Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 48.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,797 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 32,489 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in NIKE were worth $6,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in NIKE by 344.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,694,842,000 after buying an additional 20,688,013 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in NIKE by 24.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,880,971,000 after buying an additional 9,043,180 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the first quarter worth $509,051,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the first quarter worth $502,285,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NIKE by 4.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,151,080 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $7,182,831,000 after buying an additional 4,957,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

NIKE Trading Down 1.6%

NKE stock opened at $73.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $75.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.81. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $90.62. The company has a market capitalization of $107.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. NIKE's dividend payout ratio is 74.07%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $7,951,900.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cowen upgraded shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.67.

NIKE Company 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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