Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the period. NIKE accounts for 1.6% of Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $5,384,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 60,642 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 19,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $74.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $110.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.32 and a 1 year high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

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.