Bailard Inc. Grows Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1,216.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,519 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 61,466 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $7,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the third quarter worth $679,775,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in NIKE by 433.5% in the third quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,128,587 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $394,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,677 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in NIKE by 117.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,986,441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $285,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,273 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in NIKE by 37.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,791,531 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $553,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the third quarter worth $97,724,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet cut shares of NIKE from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $127.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.26.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded down $0.80 on Thursday, hitting $93.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,974,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,439,580. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.66 and a 52-week high of $128.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.39 and a 200 day moving average of $103.38. The company has a market cap of $141.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.29. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.41% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.53%.

NIKE 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.