NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Short Interest Up 25.7% in February

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 42,120,000 shares, an increase of 25.7% from the February 13th total of 33,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NKE. Piper Sandler raised NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.54.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, 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 value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

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

NIKE Stock Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $73.28 on Wednesday. NIKE has a 12 month low of $68.62 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $108.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s payout ratio is 49.38%.

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.