Grange Capital LLC Buys New Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Grange Capital LLC bought a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 32,725 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,000. NIKE comprises about 2.6% of Grange Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 44,748 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its stake in NIKE by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 36,391 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 16,498 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,787 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in NIKE by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 71,156 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 12,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 207.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,735 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $73.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.86. The company has a market cap of $108.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 fifty-two week low of $70.32 and a fifty-two week high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About NIKE

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.