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

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 158,594 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the typical volume of 95,367 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy D. Cook purchased 50,000 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.97 per share, for a total transaction of $2,948,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,220,155.60. This represents a 90.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Treasure Heinle sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.27, for a total transaction of $306,461.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,095,052.92. This represents a 12.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 74,841 shares of company stock worth $4,451,334 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in NIKE by 697.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 228,889 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,960,000 after acquiring an additional 200,187 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 302,320 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $21,477,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 104,791 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 37,019 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 238.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 141,356 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 99,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in NIKE by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 221,117 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,708,000 after purchasing an additional 48,764 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of NKE stock opened at $60.08 on Thursday. NIKE has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $82.44. The stock has a market cap of $88.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.34, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.48 and its 200-day moving average is $69.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.06.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The footwear maker reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.19 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 5.43%.The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 96.47%.

More NIKE News

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple CEO and Nike director Timothy D. Cook substantially increased his personal stake (50,000 shares, roughly $2.95M), a high‑profile insider buy that traders interpret as a vote of confidence. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Another director, Robert Holmes Swan, also purchased shares (~8,691 shares, ~$500k), reinforcing the insider accumulation narrative that’s buoying sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call‑option volume points to speculative/hedged bullish positioning into the move, amplifying upward pressure in the short term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street coverage remains mixed-to-supportive: several buy/overweight ratings and mid‑range price targets exist, but consensus targets sit below earlier highs — useful context for medium‑term holders. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technically the stock is deeply oversold (RSI readings flagged by market pieces), which can attract bargain hunters even as fundamentals are reassessed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings beat was overshadowed by weak outlook items: China demand softness, tariff pressures and margin compression have driven the recent selloff and weigh on near‑term earnings visibility. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and commentary about margin deterioration and high payout ratios increase downside risk until the turnaround shows sustained improvement. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.14.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).