Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 130,359 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the typical daily volume of 99,107 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on NKE shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $5,384,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 60,642 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,589,000 after acquiring an additional 19,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NKE traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.28. The stock had a trading volume of 10,894,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,164,288. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.95. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.32 and a twelve month high of $107.43. The firm has a market cap of $115.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The company 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%. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

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.