Essex Savings Bank Buys 3,752 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 53.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,707 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank's holdings in NIKE were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in NIKE by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after buying an additional 1,343,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,204,451,000 after buying an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $832,785,000 after buying an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $910,801,000 after acquiring an additional 583,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $71.09. 7,555,377 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,573,713. The firm has a market cap of $105.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.06. NIKE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.32 and a 12 month high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from NIKE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE's dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.96.

About NIKE

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.