Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

NIKE (NYSE:NKE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 50.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $73.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $108.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.68 and a 200-day moving average of $78.04. NIKE has a 52-week low of $68.62 and a 52-week high of $107.34.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in NIKE by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 6,029.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after buying an additional 6,709,985 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $575,342,000 after buying an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares during 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.