South Dakota Investment Council Boosts Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 62.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 208,477 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,300 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in NIKE were worth $11,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NKE. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 548 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NKE. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on NIKE from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $803,439.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,133 shares in the company, valued at $2,453,681.94. The trade was a 24.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $43.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.59. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $80.17. The stock has a market cap of $64.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.09. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.47%.

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).