Ethic Inc. Purchases 22,096 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,640 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its stake in NIKE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 1,236 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 36,996 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on NIKE from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.48.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $58.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $86.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.23. 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 $52.28 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.31.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

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

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.