NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Raised to Buy at DZ Bank

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) was upgraded by stock analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $68.00 price target on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.57.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE opened at $74.59 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.16 billion, a PE ratio of 38.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.29. NIKE has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $84.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.19.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total transaction of $6,535,902.54. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 744,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,566,938.84. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in NIKE by 344.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,694,842,000 after buying an additional 20,688,013 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 2nd quarter valued at about $835,063,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,880,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,043,180 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 3,129.9% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,091,426 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $645,855,000 after purchasing an additional 8,809,950 shares during the period. Finally, Harris Associates L P bought a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 2nd quarter valued at about $621,525,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.