Korea Investment CORP Raises Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,071,263 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,243 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of NIKE worth $81,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,541,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 358.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357,745 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $156,438,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $65.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.95 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.13.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

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 bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Dbs Bank raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

NIKE 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.