NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Trading 1.7% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s stock price traded up 1.7% during trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $84.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. NIKE traded as high as $83.12 and last traded at $82.26. 1,785,995 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 11,209,227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.90.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on NIKE from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on NIKE from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (down previously from $114.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.33.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were 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 owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,435,628. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NIKE by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $10,342,012,000 after purchasing an additional 501,792 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in NIKE by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,997,628,000 after acquiring an additional 7,143,775 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in NIKE by 87.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,860,395,000 after acquiring an additional 7,996,434 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake 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 valued at $832,785,000 after acquiring an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted 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 period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $123.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.28.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $12.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.86 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 42.63% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.