Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 409,706 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,546 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $36,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,628,000. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 19.5% during the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,510 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after purchasing an additional 6,778 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 14.3% during the third quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 93,521 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 98,289 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $8,689,000 after purchasing an additional 16,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,602,534 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,716,000 after buying an additional 117,187 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $77.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $123.39. The stock has a market cap of $116.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.59.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 42.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Williams Trading raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

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.