Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Boosts Stake in NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 324,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,072 shares during the quarter. NIKE accounts for 1.4% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $17,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NKE. AlTi Global Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 445.0% in the first quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 34,024 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 27,781 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 108.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 548 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 2.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 48.3% in the first quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 19,978 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 6,510 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. China Renaissance reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $74.60 to $50.30 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $49.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.80.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE opened at $43.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.36. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $80.17.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 78.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 company insiders.

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).