NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $64.96, but opened at $56.37. NIKE shares last traded at $56.96, with a volume of 15,738,890 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on NIKE from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cfra Research raised NIKE to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NIKE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.38.

NIKE Trading Down 11.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $85.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.64.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. NIKE’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend yield of 2.78%. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 53.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This represents a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

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

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.