Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades NIKE (NYSE:NKE) to Buy

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $115.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $75.00.

NKE has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $81.17 on Monday. NIKE has a 1-year low of $68.62 and a 1-year high of $105.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.28. 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 $120.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in NIKE in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in NIKE by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is 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.