Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 437,701 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 437,701 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $33,121,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after buying an additional 6,507,856 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 358.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $156,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NKE shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $73.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. NIKE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $102.49. The company has a market capitalization of $108.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.73 and its 200 day moving average is $77.99.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its 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 business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

NIKE Company 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.