NIKE’s (NKE) Buy Rating Reiterated at Sanford C. Bernstein

NIKE (NYSE:NKE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NKE. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $45.00 price target on shares of NIKE and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.04.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $43.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $63.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE has a 52 week low of $42.09 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.14.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 4.84%.The firm had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that NIKE will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Elliott Hill acquired 23,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.27 per share, with a total value of $1,000,108.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 265,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,211,990.69. This trade represents a 9.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy D. Cook bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.43 per share, with a total value of $1,060,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 130,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,536,266.40. This trade represents a 23.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the first quarter worth $123,000. Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in NIKE by 1,731.4% during the 1st quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 234,417 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $12,382,000 after purchasing an additional 221,617 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co increased its stake in NIKE by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 164,075 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $8,666,000 after buying an additional 11,655 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in NIKE by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 324,568 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $17,144,000 after buying an additional 13,072 shares during the period. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 445.0% in the 1st quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 34,024 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 27,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company Profile

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).