NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Short Interest Update

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of 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 volume of 14,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NKE. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth approximately $229,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 3rd quarter worth $1,688,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 3,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,146 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 103,214 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 74.8% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,832 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in NIKE by 76.0% in the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 23,154 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,047,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $64.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. NIKE has a 1 year low of $62.65 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.72.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NKE shares. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

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.