Suncoast Equity Management Grows Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Suncoast Equity Management boosted its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,772 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 752 shares during the quarter. NIKE accounts for approximately 2.4% of Suncoast Equity Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in NIKE were worth $17,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 139,649.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,813,307 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,967,325,000 after acquiring an additional 16,801,276 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,345,203,000. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth approximately $679,775,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in NIKE by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 30,720,119 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,594,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its holdings in NIKE by 433.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,128,587 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $394,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on NIKE from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on NIKE from $142.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Williams Trading reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.26.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $93.61. The company had a trading volume of 5,226,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,503,845. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.49. The company has a market capitalization of $141.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.66 and a 12-month high of $128.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.28 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 39.41%. Research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.53%.

About NIKE

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.