Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 70,944 Shares of NIKE, Inc. $NKE

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 538,246 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 70,944 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $22,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 548 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $47.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.53.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $40.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $60.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.11. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.73.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.47%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,453,681.94. This 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 accessible 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. Also, COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $37,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 74,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,112,512. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,142 shares of company stock worth $1,169,380 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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).