NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on NKE. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on NIKE from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings raised NIKE from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. DA Davidson downgraded NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $46.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NIKE in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.04.

NIKE Trading Down 4.8%

NYSE NKE opened at $43.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $64.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. NIKE has a 12 month low of $41.35 and a 12 month high of $80.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.60 and a 200-day moving average of $56.61.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 4.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 11,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $42.44 per share, with a total value of $499,985.64. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 55,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,340.56. This trade represents a 27.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.34 per share, with a total value of $173,360.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,893.48. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 64,441 shares of company stock worth $2,734,204. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 116,993,541 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $7,453,658,000 after buying an additional 1,702,342 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,315,606 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,802,807,000 after buying an additional 1,275,494 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,126,246,000 after buying an additional 6,830,938 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 49,010.4% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $3,061,555,000 after buying an additional 47,956,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,442,879 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,677,251,000 after buying an additional 233,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc (NYSE: NKE) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).