NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given New $61.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $61.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. China Renaissance initiated coverage on NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on NIKE from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seventeen investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.93.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $60.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.21. NIKE has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 8,600 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NIKE by 344.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,694,842,000 after purchasing an additional 20,688,013 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,880,971,000 after acquiring an additional 9,043,180 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $509,051,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the first quarter valued at about $502,285,000. 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.