NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its target price cut by Needham & Company LLC from $84.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NKE. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NIKE from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.54.

NIKE Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $73.78 on Monday. NIKE has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $101.92. The stock has a market cap of $109.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.71 and a 200-day moving average of $77.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. 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 previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company Profile

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.