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

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,570,000 shares, a decline of 13.2% from the February 28th total of 42,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NKE. Barclays cut 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut NIKE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on NIKE from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of NIKE to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.38.

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NIKE Stock Performance

NIKE stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.04. The stock had a trading volume of 10,774,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,961,350. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $73.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.64. NIKE has a 1 year low of $60.09 and a 1 year high of $98.04. The stock has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NIKE's dividend payout ratio is 53.16%.

Insider Activity

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total value of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. This trade represents a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE in the 3rd quarter worth $229,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in NIKE in the third quarter worth $1,688,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in NIKE by 3,520.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,146 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $9,383,000 after acquiring an additional 103,214 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in NIKE by 74.8% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,832 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its stake in NIKE by 76.0% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 23,154 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by 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.