NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $64.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. NIKE traded as low as $65.17 and last traded at $66.70, with a volume of 19570205 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.86.

NKE has been the subject of several other reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 4.7% during the third quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,036 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in NIKE by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,446 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Trading Down 5.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.46. The firm has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted 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 net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

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.