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

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered its price target on NIKE from $53 to $47 while keeping a neutral rating, implying only about 5.84% upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts have also turned more cautious, with several recent target cuts and at least one downgrade; the overall consensus remains Hold with an average price target of $61.01.
• NIKE’s stock was trading around $44.41, near its 50-day moving average and well below its 200-day average, even as insiders recently bought shares and the company beat quarterly earnings estimates.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Citigroup from $53.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the footwear maker's stock. Citigroup's price target indicates a potential upside of 5.84% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NKE. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of NIKE from $77.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Williams Trading cut their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. China Renaissance reduced their price target on NIKE from $74.60 to $50.30 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded NIKE from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered NIKE from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NIKE has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.01.

NIKE Stock Performance

NYSE NKE traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,223,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,735,080. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.54 and a 200-day moving average of $55.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.14. NIKE has a 1-year low of $41.35 and a 1-year high of $80.17. The company has a market cap of $65.76 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The footwear maker reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $11.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.23 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 16.41%. NIKE's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Holmes Swan acquired 11,781 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $42.44 per share, with a total value of $499,985.64. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 55,074 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,340.56. The trade was a 27.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $43.34 per share, for a total transaction of $173,360.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,893.48. This trade represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 64,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,734,204 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of NIKE by 49,010.4% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 48,054,542 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $3,061,555,000 after acquiring an additional 47,956,692 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 4th quarter worth $829,956,000. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in NIKE during the 2nd quarter worth $621,525,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in NIKE by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 49,069,951 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $3,126,246,000 after purchasing an additional 6,830,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. increased its holdings in NIKE by 2,492.4% in the 4th quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,883,229 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $311,111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,859 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NIKE

Nike, Inc NYSE: NKE is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.