NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $84.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Daiwa America cut shares of NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.77.

NIKE Trading Down 0.2 %

NKE stock opened at $76.94 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.65. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $70.75 and a fifty-two week high of $123.30. The firm has a market cap of $115.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.36.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 39.84%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. NIKE’s payout ratio is 45.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in NIKE by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 105,571 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $9,332,000 after buying an additional 41,752 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NIKE by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,010 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 265,449 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $23,466,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of NIKE by 59.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,055,597 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $93,315,000 after acquiring an additional 395,434 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.