Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 130,359 call options on the company. This is an increase of 32% compared to the average volume of 99,107 call options.

NIKE Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:NKE traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.28. 10,894,537 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,164,288. The firm has a market cap of $115.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.95.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.1 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in NIKE by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,204,451,000 after acquiring an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $910,801,000 after acquiring an additional 583,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $760,716,000 after acquiring an additional 117,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.96.

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.