Exeter Financial LLC Takes $340,000 Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Exeter Financial LLC acquired a new position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,490 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $9,987,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,628,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 246,080 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $18,621,000 after acquiring an additional 14,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 128.1% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,680 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 13,860 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $72.16 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.75 and a 1 year high of $107.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.09. The company has a market cap of $106.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.96.

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.