NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Price Target Cut to $70.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the footwear maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 2.24% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Dbs Bank upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.23.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock opened at $71.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average of $77.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE has a 12 month low of $66.48 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 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 analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.