Morgan Stanley Increases NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Price Target to $82.00

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the footwear maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 8.27% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on NKE. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $115.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on NIKE from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, September 20th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.52.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $89.39 on Wednesday. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.75 and a twelve month high of $123.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $134.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.83.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. NIKE had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 42.63%. The company had revenue of $12.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. NIKE’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that NIKE will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $4,093,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,435,628. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total transaction of $8,026,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,419,507.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 52,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $4,093,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,031,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,435,628. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKE. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,366 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,598 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in NIKE by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 88,246 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,519 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $729,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $270,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.