Magnetar Financial LLC Takes Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,435 shares of the footwear maker's stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,417 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in NIKE by 39.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,282 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 3.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,478 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $4,551,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,028,131 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $90,887,000 after buying an additional 166,127 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of NIKE by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,209,868 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $637,352,000 after buying an additional 1,184,252 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NIKE Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NIKE stock traded down $0.79 on Wednesday, hitting $65.76. The company had a trading volume of 18,680,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,438,876. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.96 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.52 and a 200-day moving average of $77.21.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE'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, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE's payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

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.