North Star Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,739 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,124 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $6,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 388.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,316,000 after buying an additional 160,980 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 58,934 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 201,850 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $12,813,000 after acquiring an additional 6,406 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,865 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 15.0% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 652,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $41,389,000 after purchasing an additional 85,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $62.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.28 and a 12-month high of $82.44. The firm has a market cap of $91.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The company 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%.NIKE’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 16,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $62.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,753.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 21,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,327,980.92. This trade represents a 308.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total value of $5,577,854.40. Following the sale, the chairman owned 647,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,965,452. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays set a $70.00 target price on NIKE and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.24.

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.