Madison Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Madison Asset Management LLC grew its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 640,623 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 224,026 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $44,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in NIKE by 5.5% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 16,303 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,822 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,629 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,178 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,870,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Waterway Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,204 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 23.5% during the third quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 3,642,400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $253,985,000 after purchasing an additional 692,268 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 0.9%

NIKE stock opened at $62.98 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a market cap of $93.23 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.44.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.19 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 5.43% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $57.54 per share, with a total value of $500,080.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 43,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,491,079.22. The trade was a 25.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.97 per share, with a total value of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,220,155.60. This represents a 90.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 75,079 shares of company stock valued at $4,449,887 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $67.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell 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 $74.61.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).