NIKE’s (NKE) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $84.00 price target on the footwear maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on NKE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Daiwa America cut NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NKE stock opened at $76.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.75 and a twelve month high of $123.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.55. The stock has a market cap of $115.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s payout ratio is 45.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,204,451,000 after acquiring an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in 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 boosted its holdings in NIKE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $910,801,000 after purchasing an additional 583,207 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is 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.