Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,628,256 shares of the footwear maker's stock after buying an additional 1,418,839 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of NIKE worth $577,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $2,749,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,898,591 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $516,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,541,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 358.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,015,267 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $228,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,745 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

NKE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on NIKE from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 13.8 %

Shares of NKE stock traded down $8.99 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.97. 58,836,827 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,152,250. The business's fifty day moving average is $73.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.26 and a 12-month high of $98.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE's payout ratio is 53.16%.

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.