NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) were up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.35 and last traded at $64.39. Approximately 3,752,463 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 12,913,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on NIKE from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 5,745.9% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Company Profile

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.