NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

NIKE (NYSE:NKE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $78.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.57% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of NIKE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $68.00 target price on NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Monday, August 18th. 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.57.

NIKE Price Performance

NIKE stock opened at $74.59 on Wednesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $84.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.71 and a 200-day moving average of $67.32.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 6.23%.The business had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 86,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 744,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,566,938.84. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE during the third quarter worth $921,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in NIKE by 14.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,445 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in NIKE by 455.8% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 237,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $16,564,000 after acquiring an additional 194,806 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its holdings in NIKE by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 162,008 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $11,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Finally, Cacti Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cacti Asset Management LLC now owns 318,054 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $22,044,000 after acquiring an additional 11,215 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NIKE

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.