Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 203,032 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 30,958 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $15,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its stake in NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in NIKE by 52.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $74.60 on Thursday. 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 $110.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.12. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.32 and a 52 week high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NKE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Company 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.