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

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 116,347 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 89,664 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Johanna Nielsen sold 282 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total transaction of $26,406.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,357.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 2,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $226,515.82. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,260.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Johanna Nielsen sold 282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total transaction of $26,406.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 730 shares in the company, valued at $68,357.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,660 shares of company stock worth $19,946,333 in the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $10,342,012,000 after purchasing an additional 501,792 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143,775 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $1,315,097,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,887,769 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,073,515,000 after purchasing an additional 219,091 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE traded down $1.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.72. The stock had a trading volume of 14,608,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,607,335. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $114.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $74.29 and a fifty-two week high of $123.39.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. NIKE had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 42.63%. The firm had revenue of $12.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (down previously from $116.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.04.

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.