NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Trading Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s stock price was down 1.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $44.15 and last traded at $44.3590. Approximately 13,208,890 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 19,268,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NKE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Williams Trading reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.34.

NIKE Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Elliott Hill acquired 23,660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $42.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,108.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 265,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,211,990.69. This trade represents a 9.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.34 per share, with a total value of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 388.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 202,411 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,316,000 after buying an additional 160,980 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in NIKE during the first quarter worth about $311,000. United Bank boosted its stake in NIKE by 11.3% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 17,067 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 0.3% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 64,161 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $4,558,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in NIKE by 6.5% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 191,268 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $13,588,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Company Profile

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).