Aviva PLC Purchases 168,666 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 23.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 879,978 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 168,666 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $62,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 344.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,694,842,000 after purchasing an additional 20,688,013 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,880,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,043,180 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 1st quarter worth $509,051,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 1st quarter worth $502,285,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,151,080 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,182,831,000 after buying an additional 4,957,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 29,396 shares in the company, valued at $2,095,052.92. This represents a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total value of $6,535,902.54. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 744,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,566,938.84. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NKE. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.21.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $61.04 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $82.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.52. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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.