Investors Buy Large Volume of NIKE Call Options (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 130,359 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average daily volume of 99,107 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 52.6% in the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 435 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $78.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $115.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.95. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $70.32 and a fifty-two week high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.