NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Price Target Lowered to $74.00 at Morgan Stanley

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $74.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded NIKE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $93.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price target on NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

NIKE Price Performance

NYSE NKE opened at $76.94 on Friday. NIKE has a one year low of $70.75 and a one year high of $123.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.07 and a 200 day moving average of $80.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Denver PWM LLC increased its position in NIKE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 105,571 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,332,000 after buying an additional 41,752 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,010 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,183,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of NIKE by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 265,449 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $23,466,000 after buying an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in NIKE by 59.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,055,597 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $93,315,000 after acquiring an additional 395,434 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by 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.