Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 26,283 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 186.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,373 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 26,283 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 24,723 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 3,078 shares during the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,498 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $671,000. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its stake in NIKE by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 88,277 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 44,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $45.96 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.05 and its 200-day moving average is $56.93. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.35 and a 12-month high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $68.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 108.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $69.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. China Renaissance cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $74.60 to $50.30 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target (down from $76.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy D. Cook bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $42.43 per share, with a total value of $1,060,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 130,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,536,266.40. The trade was a 23.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,022 shares in the company, valued at $1,777,893.48. This trade represents a 10.80% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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).