Argus Upgrades NIKE (NYSE:NKE) to “Strong-Buy”

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

NKE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on NIKE to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.80.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NKE opened at $44.49 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.91. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The stock has a market cap of $65.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.96.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In related news, EVP Philip Mccartney sold 17,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $803,439.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,681.94. This trade represents a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,453,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,342 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in NIKE by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,315,606 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,802,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,494 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in NIKE by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $3,126,246,000 after purchasing an additional 6,830,938 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in NIKE by 49,010.4% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,061,555,000 after purchasing an additional 47,956,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NIKE by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,677,251,000 after purchasing an additional 233,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).