Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Boosts Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2,501.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,861,537 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,789,974 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in NIKE were worth $118,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in NIKE during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in NIKE by 268.6% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in NIKE by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 596 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 11,781 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.44 per share, for a total transaction of $499,985.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 55,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,340.56. The trade was a 27.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $803,439.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,453,681.94. The trade was a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have bought a total of 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE NKE opened at $45.20 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.35 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.27. The stock has a market cap of $66.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on NIKE from $35.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. HSBC downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NIKE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.89.

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).