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

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

NIKE Stock Down 13.7 %

NKE stock traded down $8.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.05. The stock had a trading volume of 55,561,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,141,168. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. NIKE has a 1-year low of $55.26 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.66 and a 200 day moving average of $76.64.

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

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company 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 was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NKE has been the subject of several research reports. Dbs Bank raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on NIKE from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In related 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter worth $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

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.