Sage Investment Counsel LLC Makes New Investment in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,403 shares of the footwear maker’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000. NIKE comprises 0.9% of Sage Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE NKE opened at $79.43 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.33. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.62 and a 52 week high of $105.57. 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 $117.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.