Waycross Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Waycross Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 177.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,200 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 388.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,316,000 after buying an additional 160,980 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in NIKE during the first quarter valued at $311,000. United Bank lifted its holdings in NIKE by 11.3% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,067 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in NIKE in the second quarter worth about $3,453,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 11.8% in the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Elliott Hill bought 16,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $61.10 per share, with a total value of $1,001,306.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 241,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,760,965.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.97 per share, for a total transaction of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 105,480 shares in the company, valued at $6,220,155.60. The trade was a 90.12% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 75,079 shares of company stock worth $4,449,887 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NIKE Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $64.74 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $95.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.55 and a 200 day moving average of $67.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.19 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 5.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.61.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).