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

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 158,594 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 95,367 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.80, for a total value of $5,577,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 647,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,965,452. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 8,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.54 per share, with a total value of $500,080.14. Following the acquisition, the director owned 43,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,491,079.22. This represents a 25.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 74,841 shares of company stock valued at $4,451,334 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 697.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 228,889 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,960,000 after acquiring an additional 200,187 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 302,320 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $21,477,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 104,791 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 37,019 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 238.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 141,356 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 99,638 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 28.3% during the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 221,117 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,708,000 after purchasing an additional 48,764 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about NIKE

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook (Nike director and Apple CEO) disclosed an open‑market purchase of 50,000 shares (~$2.95M), a high‑visibility vote of confidence that helped lift pre‑market momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,691 shares (~$500k), increasing his stake materially — another insider accumulation that reinforces the positive sentiment from Cook’s trade. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Media and pundit commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) has highlighted a potential multi‑quarter recovery scenario, which can amplify retail buying following the insider headlines. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market roundups and analyst notes summarize mixed fundamentals and context (some firms still rate NKE a buy while others are cautious) — useful background but not a single catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and reports flag structural issues: margin compression, elevated payout ratio and weak China sales — risks that could cap upside even with short‑term buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Post‑earnings weakness (China decline, softer guidance) has already pushed shares below technical support, creating the backdrop for the earlier selloff that insiders appear to be buying into. Read More.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE:NKE traded up $2.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $60.18. 21,016,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,471,836. The company has a market cap of $88.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $82.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NKE. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on NIKE from $100.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. TD Cowen upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $90.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.14.

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).