NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $64.96, but opened at $56.37. NIKE shares last traded at $56.96, with a volume of 15,738,890 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on NKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. China Renaissance initiated coverage on NIKE in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Up 2.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JNBA Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 10,045 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in NIKE by 4.7% in the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in NIKE by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management lifted its position in NIKE by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 1,236 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.