Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $625,000 Stock Holdings in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,263 shares of the footwear maker’s stock after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NIKE were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 16,482 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,431,000. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in NIKE by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,111 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $12,645,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $481,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in NIKE by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,590 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 insiders.

NIKE Stock Up 5.0 %

NIKE stock opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. NIKE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $106.10. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $74.37 and a 200-day moving average of $78.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. 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 business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.