Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Stock Price

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the footwear maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.89% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of NIKE from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson upgraded NIKE to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NIKE from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.38.

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NIKE Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NIKE stock traded down $0.56 on Friday, reaching $67.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,023,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,355,167. NIKE has a 52 week low of $65.17 and a 52 week high of $98.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $74.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.40. 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 company has a market capitalization of $99.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 36.99% and a net margin of 9.98%. NIKE's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. bought 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 34,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. This 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 Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,417 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $5,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in NIKE by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,282 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of NIKE by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 51,478 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $4,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in NIKE by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,028,131 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $90,887,000 after purchasing an additional 166,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 19.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,209,868 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $637,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company's stock.

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.