Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 20.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,688 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 86.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,957 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 9,689 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter worth about $127,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.6% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 14,326 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 97.6% during the first quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 405 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 33.2% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 11,758 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $77.40 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.36. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.39. The firm has a market cap of $116.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.03.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend 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.