NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $72.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $102.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Thursday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $68.69 on Friday. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $107.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.