NIKE’s (NKE) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

NIKE (NYSE:NKE)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $79.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 9.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NKE. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on NIKE from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Williams Trading upgraded NIKE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.89.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE stock traded up $6.33 on Friday, hitting $87.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,348,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,282,966. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $70.75 and a fifty-two week high of $123.39. The company has a market capitalization of $131.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $77.84 and its 200-day moving average is $87.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.40.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $12.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.86 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 42.63% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,031,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,435,628. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,435,628. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 2,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $226,515.82. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,260.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after buying an additional 7,143,775 shares during the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD bought a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter worth about $533,533,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 612.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $487,327,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 8,859,580 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $832,623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

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.