NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Trading Down 1.1% – Should You Sell?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) shares fell 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $66.72 and last traded at $66.68. 4,591,829 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 12,408,980 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its position in NIKE by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 13,705 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,258 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $358,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Company Profile

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.