Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in NIKE by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % 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 hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Down 5.4 %

NKE stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.17 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.