Sowell Financial Services LLC Acquires 18,250 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 106.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,316 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,250 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $2,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in NIKE by 5,745.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $78.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $102.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.