Bailard Inc. Buys 61,466 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 1,216.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,519 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,466 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $7,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NKE. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $8,034,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised 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 worth $17,598,000 after buying an additional 176,476 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 10,184.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 388,131 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $42,139,000 after buying an additional 384,357 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in NIKE by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 194,164 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $21,080,000 after buying an additional 69,363 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on NIKE from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on NIKE from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on NIKE from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on NIKE from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NIKE from $124.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.26.

NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $93.84. 2,974,560 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,439,580. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.66 and a 52 week high of $128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $141.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.38.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.28 billion. On average, analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.53%.

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.