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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $4,554,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in NIKE by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 20,518 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in NIKE by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 8,403 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX acquired a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $309,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $81.91 on Wednesday. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $106.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.26. 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 $121.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its 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. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NKE shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.