Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,403 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,323 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in NIKE by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 26,403 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 1,538.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,235 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 13,366 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in NIKE by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 17,787 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,572,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in NIKE by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 60,543 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,352,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $79.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $117.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day moving average is $78.33. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $105.57. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the 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 directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

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.