NIKE’s (NKE) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $90.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cowen raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.26.

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $109.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $85.23.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total transaction of $6,535,902.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 744,988 shares in the company, valued at $56,566,938.84. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 344.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,694,842,000 after buying an additional 20,688,013 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NIKE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $835,063,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE by 24.9% during 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 buying an additional 9,043,180 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in NIKE by 3,129.9% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,091,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $645,855,000 after buying an additional 8,809,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $621,525,000. 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.