Wallington Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,600 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Wallington Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,600 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $533,533,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of NIKE by 612.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $487,327,000 after buying an additional 4,457,376 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 45.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,859,580 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $832,623,000 after buying an additional 2,775,510 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 138.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,715,689 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $204,681,000 after buying an additional 1,576,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 351.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,991,519 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $150,101,000 after buying an additional 1,550,611 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $80.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.10. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.75 and a 12-month high of $123.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $120.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. NIKE’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 39.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,031,226 shares in the company, valued at $80,435,628. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NKE. HSBC cut their price objective on NIKE from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Daiwa America cut NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.56.

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.