Kovack Advisors Inc. Invests $612,000 in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,920 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $10,342,012,000 after buying an additional 501,792 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $832,785,000 after acquiring an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in NIKE by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,025,616 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $454,151,000 after purchasing an additional 52,500 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new position in NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $533,533,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in NIKE by 612.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $487,327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Daiwa America cut NIKE from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.48.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.15. 8,694,428 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,467,014. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $80.97 and its 200-day moving average is $83.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.03. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.39.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from NIKE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE's payout ratio is presently 42.41%.

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.