Alberta Investment Management Corp Buys 100,900 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 54.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 285,627 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,900 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in NIKE were worth $21,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,505 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 19,522 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,762 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 13,061 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NIKE Stock Up 6.2 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $77.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.07. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.62 and a 1-year high of $106.62.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

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.