NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• NIKE's stock received a buy rating from Needham & Company LLC, with a price target of $78.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.88% from its current price.
• In the latest quarterly earnings report, NIKE reported $0.49 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.22, and generated $11.72 billion in revenue.
• Institutional investors have shown strong interest, with Vanguard Group increasing its position by 0.6%, now holding shares worth over $8 billion.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $78.00 price target on the footwear maker's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.88% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on NKE. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of NIKE in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on NIKE from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on NIKE from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.77.

NIKE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $69.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. NIKE has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $89.64. The stock's 50 day moving average is $74.78 and its 200-day moving average is $67.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.24.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NIKE

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total value of $7,951,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 842,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,894,276.69. This represents a 11.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NKE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NIKE by 0.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,823,785 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $8,086,042,000 after purchasing an additional 672,705 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,154,159 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $4,225,441,000 after buying an additional 1,590,603 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,383,916 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $2,880,971,000 after buying an additional 9,043,180 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 344.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,698,835 shares of the footwear maker's stock worth $1,694,842,000 after buying an additional 20,688,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in NIKE by 3.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,988,207 shares of the footwear maker's stock valued at $1,332,331,000 after acquiring an additional 620,214 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.