Empowered Funds LLC Has $12.21 Million Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 595.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 161,345 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 138,131 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $12,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth 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. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 52.2% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased 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. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $68.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.01. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $107.43. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

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.