Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 149,261 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average volume of 94,115 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Solidarity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 73,159 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 240,685 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $18,212,000 after buying an additional 12,074 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,871 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 3,207 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 24,207 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,832,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 171,507 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $13,040,000 after buying an additional 17,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen reduced 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.96.

NIKE Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $71.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.97 and its 200-day moving average is $78.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE has a 12 month low of $70.32 and a 12 month high of $107.43. The firm has a market cap of $105.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.