Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Boosts Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,687,857 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,484 shares during the quarter. NIKE comprises 1.0% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in NIKE were worth $183,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth $679,775,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in NIKE by 433.5% during the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,128,587 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $394,775,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354,677 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,986,441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $285,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610,273 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,791,531 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $553,786,000 after buying an additional 1,583,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth about $97,724,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NKE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $142.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on NIKE from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.26.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $93.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,296,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,470,656. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. NIKE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.66 and a 52 week high of $128.68.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.28 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 39.41%. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.53%.

NIKE Company Profile

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.