Verus Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,010 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 388.5% in the 4th 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 period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 98,799 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $6,272,000 after acquiring an additional 16,087 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 127.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 86,828 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,512,000 after acquiring an additional 48,598 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,150 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of NKE opened at $63.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.66. The stock has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NKE. DZ Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $68.00 target price on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. KeyCorp set a $90.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price target on NIKE and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp bought 16,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.09 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,753.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 21,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,327,980.92. This trade represents a 308.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total transaction of $306,461.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,052.92. The trade was a 12.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.