Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $79.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. HSBC cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of NIKE from $113.00 to $104.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Williams Trading raised shares of NIKE from a sell rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on NIKE from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $96.15.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $86.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a 1-year low of $70.75 and a 1-year high of $123.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.99.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The footwear maker reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $12.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.86 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 42.63%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NIKE will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 39.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total transaction of $8,026,700.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,102,090 shares in the company, valued at $80,419,507.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other NIKE news, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 2,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.02 per share, with a total value of $226,515.82. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,260.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total value of $8,026,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,419,507.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,044,821 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $10,342,012,000 after buying an additional 501,792 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in NIKE by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,609,613 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,997,628,000 after acquiring an additional 7,143,775 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 87.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,135,431 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,860,395,000 after purchasing an additional 7,996,434 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 5.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,049,294 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $832,785,000 after purchasing an additional 571,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,880,038 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $1,072,676,000 after purchasing an additional 211,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

About NIKE

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.