NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Shares Acquired by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,832 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 454 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $6,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in NIKE by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 37,510 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $8,034,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 2,332.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,042 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $17,598,000 after purchasing an additional 176,476 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 10,184.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,131 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $42,139,000 after purchasing an additional 384,357 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 194,164 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $21,080,000 after purchasing an additional 69,363 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet cut NIKE from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $142.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on NIKE from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.26.

NIKE Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NIKE stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.78. 7,027,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,226,866. The stock has a market cap of $141.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.89. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.66 and a 12-month high of $127.69.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.29. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.41% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.28 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 43.53%.

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.