NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $55.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock, down from their prior target price of $75.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on NIKE in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.15.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $58.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.16. The stock has a market cap of $86.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. NIKE has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director Robert Holmes Swan bought 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. This trade represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Saturna Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the first quarter valued at about $6,665,000. Pecaut & CO. increased its holdings in NIKE by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. Pecaut & CO. now owns 56,912 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 17,150 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in NIKE by 3.0% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 445,400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,274,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in NIKE during the first quarter worth $480,000. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 7.5% during the first quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 27,942 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.