Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 50,000 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,646 shares of the footwear maker's stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in NIKE were worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Caitlin John LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. This trade represents a 36.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE:NKE traded up $0.26 on Wednesday, reaching $53.53. 13,585,108 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,155,260. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.69. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.37 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market cap of $79.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. NIKE's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. NIKE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen 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, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.38.

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.