AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 36,673 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 46.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 116,428 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,673 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $8,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perbak Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in NIKE by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,690,435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,111,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,641 shares during the period. Bolthouse Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $592,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NIKE by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,439 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Finally, Arkos Global Advisors bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $319,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NKE. Wells Fargo & Company cut NIKE from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.48.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $57.15 on Wednesday. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.28 and a 12-month high of $98.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.72. The company has a market capitalization of $84.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.