NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given New $66.00 Price Target at UBS Group

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at UBS Group from $73.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the footwear maker’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.96% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NKE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.43. NIKE has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $98.04. The company has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of NIKE by 4.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,417 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NIKE by 39.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,282 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 3.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,478 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of NIKE by 19.3% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,028,131 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $90,887,000 after purchasing an additional 166,127 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of NIKE by 19.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,209,868 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $637,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.