NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,570,000 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 28th total of 42,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

NIKE Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $64.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.72. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $62.65 and a fifty-two week high of $98.04.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NKE. Truist Financial decreased their price target on NIKE from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 0.3% in the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 246,930 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $15,675,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Cacti Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 123.0% during the first quarter. Cacti Asset Management LLC now owns 298,309 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $18,880,000 after buying an additional 164,524 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in NIKE by 13.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 7,319 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC grew its position in NIKE by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 13,705 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,258 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is 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.