Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,450 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $12,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $1,315,097,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in NIKE by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in NIKE by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143,775 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in NIKE by 13,094.2% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,563,253 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $169,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,405 shares during the period. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in NIKE by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,714,494 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $511,853,000 after purchasing an additional 957,612 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded down $1.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.69. 13,580,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,599,172. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $93.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.85. The company has a market cap of $114.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.29 and a 12-month high of $123.39.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $12.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.86 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 42.63% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,648,662.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 168,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total value of $15,682,726.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,648,662.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Johanna Nielsen sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total value of $26,406.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,357.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 213,660 shares of company stock worth $19,946,333 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on NIKE from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wedbush cut their price target on NIKE from $115.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (down from $117.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut NIKE from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $109.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.04.

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.