Nike Inc (NKE)’s Results Beat Estimates Confirming Hedge Funds’ Love for the Stock

More specifically, among the funds bullish on Nike, the top two shareholders are the UK-based Lansdowne Partners and billionaire Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital, which hold 8.34 million shares and 7.16 million shares respectively. Moreover, among the largest shareholders, Cliff Assness’ AQR Capital Management increased its exposure to Nike the most, by 81% on the quarter to 1.75 million shares. In terms of portfolio exposure, the leader is Mark Wolfson and Jamie Alexander’s Jasper Ridge Partners, which disclosed holding 1.17 million shares, amassing 8.80% of its equity portfolio. Peter Muller’s PDT Partners and Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investors are among the funds that initiated stakes in Nike during the second quarter, while John Burbank‘s Passport Capital and Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co. unloaded their stakes among other investors.

In this way, the solid results, coupled with a strong bullish sentiment from the smart money, shows that Nike represents an investment worth betting on for the medium- to long-term. In addition, analysts are also mostly bullish with most having a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, which also sports a consensus target price of $117.60. A day before the release of Nike’s financial results, Telsey Advisory Group and Piper Jaffray reiterated their ‘Buy’ ratings, but Morningstar confirmed its ‘Sell’ rating on the stock.

Disclosure: none