NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Trading 1.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s stock price traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $64.35 and last traded at $64.39. 3,752,463 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 12,913,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Up 2.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $95.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.01 and a 200-day moving average of $76.82.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

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

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.