NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Now Covered by Analysts at Berenberg Bank

Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $58.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the topic of several other research reports. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.15.

NIKE Stock Up 4.1 %

NIKE stock opened at $55.73 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $98.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

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

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 53.16%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction 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 $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.46 per share, for a total transaction of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

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.