Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 842.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 107,873 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 96,429 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,376,558 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,915,110,000 after purchasing an additional 347,178 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in NIKE by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $1,126,288,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,205,753 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $696,599,000 after buying an additional 603,219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.96.

NIKE Trading Down 8.3 %

NKE stock opened at $54.41 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $98.04. The company has a market capitalization of $80.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.