Royal Bank of Canada Cuts NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Price Target to $66.00

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $67.00 to $66.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on NKE. Bank of America lowered their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.40. NIKE has a 1-year low of $65.17 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, 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.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.