Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Grows Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 52.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 241,795 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 82,700 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in NIKE were worth $16,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth about $34,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 732 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 750 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.97 per share, with a total value of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,220,155.60. This trade represents a 90.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Elliott Hill bought 16,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,001,306.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 241,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,760,965.70. This trade represents a 7.28% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 75,079 shares of company stock valued at $4,449,887. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $75.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $75.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.61.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $61.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $82.44. The company has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.97.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its 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. NIKE had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 5.43%.The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

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

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).