NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $116.26.

Several research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of NIKE from $124.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on NIKE from $142.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on NIKE from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $92.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.11. NIKE has a twelve month low of $88.66 and a twelve month high of $127.69.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The footwear maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.28 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.41% and a net margin of 10.14%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 43.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,315,097,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,860,395,000 after acquiring an additional 7,996,434 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,143,775 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 3rd quarter valued at $679,775,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in NIKE by 433.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,128,587 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $394,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,677 shares during the period. 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.