NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $84.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial upgraded NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on NIKE from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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 MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock opened at $76.94 on Friday. NIKE has a 12 month low of $70.75 and a 12 month high of $123.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.07 and a 200-day moving average of $80.65.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 45.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 5.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,442,145 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,425,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NIKE by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,029,380 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,204,451,000 after acquiring an additional 251,411 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 571,544 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,303,182 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $910,801,000 after purchasing an additional 583,207 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.