NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $90.00 price target on the footwear maker’s stock, up from their prior price target of $72.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group cut shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.96.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $71.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $105.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released 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 return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Garrison Point Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 20.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 768 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 26.3% during the third quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 1.2% in the third quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 11,430 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.