NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $83.00. The stock had previously closed at $89.13, but opened at $82.89. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. NIKE shares last traded at $82.55, with a volume of 5,246,489 shares.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NKE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, June 28th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on NIKE from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.48.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total transaction of $8,026,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total value of $8,026,700.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $4,093,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,435,628. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,342,012,000 after acquiring an additional 501,792 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in NIKE by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143,775 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in NIKE by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $832,785,000 after purchasing an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,880,038 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,072,676,000 after purchasing an additional 211,360 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 42.63% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 39.68%.

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.