Markel Group Inc. Has $32.72 Million Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 432,400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $32,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,160,000. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,261 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,159,000. Finally, Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA grew its stake in NIKE by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA now owns 887,191 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $67,134,000 after acquiring an additional 9,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NKE shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $76.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $112.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $102.49.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 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.