NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $84.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.62.

NIKE Stock Down 4.3 %

NIKE stock opened at $68.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.05. NIKE has a twelve month low of $68.62 and a twelve month high of $107.43.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of NIKE by 5.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,425,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,204,451,000 after purchasing an additional 251,411 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in NIKE by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $910,801,000 after purchasing an additional 583,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

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.