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

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) saw a large 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. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of NIKE from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Dbs Bank raised shares of NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Fourteen 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.54.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.65 per share, for a total transaction of $191,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,989.95. This represents a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in shares of NIKE by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 371 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in NIKE during the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in NIKE by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 400 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NKE traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.28. The stock had a trading volume of 8,967,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,140,842. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $68.62 and a fifty-two week high of $101.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.71. The firm has a market cap of $108.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:NKE) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

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.