NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Short Interest Up 25.7% in February

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 42,120,000 shares, an increase of 25.7% from the February 13th total of 33,510,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 13,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NKE shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays cut their price target on NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on NIKE from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.54.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In related 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,989.95. This trade represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in NIKE in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 3.0 %

NKE stock traded up $2.12 on Monday, hitting $73.78. 15,988,630 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,095,181. NIKE has a 12-month low of $68.62 and a 12-month high of $101.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market cap of $109.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. NIKE’s payout ratio is presently 49.38%.

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.