Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Stock Position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,914 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in NIKE were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 0.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,502,409 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,769,200,000 after purchasing an additional 125,746 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 4.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,557,676 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,487,625,000 after buying an additional 674,198 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,200,932 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $766,829,000 after acquiring an additional 89,947 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at $679,775,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in NIKE by 37.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,791,531 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $553,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583,541 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE traded down $1.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $92.26. 6,471,496 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,340,923. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.28. NIKE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.66 and a 12-month high of $128.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on NIKE from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on NIKE from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.