NIKE Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 149,261 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average volume of 94,115 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Garrison Point Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 20.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 768 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC raised its position in NIKE by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. lifted its stake in NIKE by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 11,430 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

NIKE Trading Up 0.1 %

NKE stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $71.11. 13,673,559 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,236,825. NIKE has a one year low of $70.32 and a one year high of $107.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $105.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released 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. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend 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.