NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Raised to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $115.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $75.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 40.41% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $81.91 on Monday. NIKE has a 1-year low of $68.62 and a 1-year high of $106.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $121.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.26.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NKE. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth about $4,554,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 20,518 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 8,403 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.