Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 7.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,372 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 388.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,316,000 after buying an additional 160,980 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 190,915 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $14,447,000 after acquiring an additional 17,888 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 24,458 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 12,027 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $4,342,000. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 25,804 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $64.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NIKE from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.26.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $61.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.48. NIKE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $98.04.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE 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.