NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Purchased by North Growth Management Ltd.

North Growth Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 231.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,000 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 37,000 shares during the period. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $4,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in NIKE by 131.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 82,712 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $6,259,000 after acquiring an additional 47,016 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,505,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 100.7% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 33,810 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 16,966 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in NIKE by 239.1% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 84,603 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $6,402,000 after buying an additional 59,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 595.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 161,345 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $12,209,000 after buying an additional 138,131 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.62 and a 1 year high of $107.43. The company has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.01.

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

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.