UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Stock Price

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $73.00 to $66.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on NKE. Citigroup lowered shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Down 5.4 %

NKE stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $65.17 and a 52-week high of $98.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is 49.38%.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.