Traders Buy High Volume of NIKE Call Options (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 136,715 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the typical volume of 91,038 call options.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,418 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 12,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 126.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 172,074 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,390,000 after purchasing an additional 96,027 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 20,816 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Trading Up 5.0 %

NKE opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. NIKE has a one year low of $68.62 and a one year high of $106.10. The company has a market cap of $118.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.21.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.77.

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.