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

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial decreased 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. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. NIKE has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released 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. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.