Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 34.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 605,675 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 154,862 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $31,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Westerkirk Capital Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 131,220 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after acquiring an additional 45,100 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,200,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,526,179 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $160,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,499 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $43,188,000. Finally, Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 123,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 30,890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE:NKE traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.39. The stock had a trading volume of 23,290,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,765,434. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average of $52.40. The company has a market capitalization of $65.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.12. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. NIKE’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 78.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $72.00 target price on NIKE and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on NIKE from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.80.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $803,439.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,681.94. This represents a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Elliott Hill bought 23,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $42.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,108.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 265,247 shares in the company, valued at $11,211,990.69. This represents a 9.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Company Profile

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).