Royal Bank of Canada Cuts NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Price Target to $66.00

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $67.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the footwear maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of NKE opened at $68.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a 12-month low of $65.17 and a 12-month high of $98.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prostatis Group LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 13,705 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 9.6% during the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $358,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. 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.