Ballast Inc. Buys 3,159 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Ballast Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,255 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in NIKE during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 52.6% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 52.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 493 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the third quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock opened at $70.89 on Friday. NIKE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.32 and a 1 year high of $107.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $104.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

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.