Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys 1,925 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,397 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Garrison Point Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 1.9% in the third quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 768 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $742,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frisch Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 4.7% in the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler raised NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $72.31 on Thursday. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $107.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.80 and its 200-day moving average is $78.08. The company has a market capitalization of $106.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.