NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $70.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. NIKE traded as low as $52.28 and last traded at $54.41, with a volume of 53856635 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.32.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,869,726.18. This trade represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NKE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $1,126,288,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in NIKE by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,340,736 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $2,749,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,898,591 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NIKE by 6,029.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,821,270 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $516,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709,985 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in NIKE by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,367,993 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,541,246,000 after buying an additional 3,121,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 1,302.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,602,101 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $196,901,000 after buying an additional 2,416,601 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NIKE Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $80.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 53.16%.

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.