Valmark Advisers Inc. Increases Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth $679,775,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 433.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,128,587 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $394,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,677 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,986,441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $285,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,273 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,791,531 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $553,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,724,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NKE. Williams Trading reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.26.

NIKE Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NKE traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.12. The company had a trading volume of 6,115,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,124,711. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.66 and a 1-year high of $128.68. The stock has a market cap of $142.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.29. NIKE had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 39.41%. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.28 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.53%.

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.