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

by · The Cerbat Gem

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE – Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 44,580,000 shares, an increase of 21.9% from the March 15th total of 36,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at NIKE

In other NIKE news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 896,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Holmes Swan purchased 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.46 per share, with a total value of $502,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,726.18. This represents a 36.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Stock Up 0.9 %

NIKE stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.24. The company had a trading volume of 17,147,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,220,796. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.39 and a 200 day moving average of $73.73. NIKE has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $98.04. 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 has a market cap of $83.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. NIKE’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. NIKE’s payout ratio is 53.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NKE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NIKE from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup cut NIKE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Sixteen 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.41.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on NIKE

NIKE Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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