Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 14.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,706 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 952.6% during the second quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 53.1% during the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $62.77 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.46. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Zacks Research upgraded NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded NIKE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.21.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total value of $306,461.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,052.92. This trade represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total value of $6,535,902.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 744,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,566,938.84. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NIKE Company 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.