NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $76.50, but opened at $78.88. NIKE shares last traded at $80.15, with a volume of 7,163,478 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NKE. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of NIKE in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.01.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,418 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 12,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 126.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 172,074 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $15,390,000 after acquiring an additional 96,027 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 20,816 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. 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.