Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Boosts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,740 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $516,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $575,342,000 after purchasing 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 during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at about $156,438,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NKE. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $78.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.18. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $102.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $116.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio 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.