NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Shares Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $54.42 and last traded at $54.57. Approximately 4,020,805 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 14,055,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on NIKE from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.15.

NIKE Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.01 and a 200-day moving average of $74.31. The stock has a market cap of $79.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 8,600 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,726.18. The trade was a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 65.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 105,571 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,332,000 after purchasing an additional 41,752 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NIKE by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 246,080 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $18,621,000 after purchasing an additional 14,592 shares during the last quarter. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $9,987,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 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.