Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 188.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,706 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 73,005 shares during the period. NIKE makes up about 1.1% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $55.62 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.50 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $82.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.09.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.