NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. CICC Research lowered shares of NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $69.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.04.

NIKE Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:NKE opened at $41.88 on Friday. NIKE has a 52 week low of $41.70 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.89 and a 200 day moving average of $58.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Elliott Hill acquired 23,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $42.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,108.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 265,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,211,990.69. This trade represents a 9.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,453,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,342 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,315,606 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,802,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,494 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,126,246,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830,938 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in NIKE by 49,010.4% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,061,555,000 after buying an additional 47,956,692 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NIKE by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,677,251,000 after buying an additional 233,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).