Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 332,518 Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,318,959 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 332,518 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.22% of NIKE worth $360,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 134.2% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 377 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 160.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 390 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $94.07. The company had a trading volume of 5,032,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,375,687. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.96 and a 200 day moving average of $103.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $141.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. NIKE, Inc. has a one year low of $88.66 and a one year high of $128.68.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.28 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.41% and a net margin of 10.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on NIKE from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of NIKE from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $127.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.26.

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.