Nike is buying back $12 billion of itself

NIKE shares were flat on the day at $125.78 in Thursday’s trading, but the stock was up over 3.5% at $130.40 in the after-hours session after this news broke. The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 9th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the footwear maker on Monday, January 4th. While splits don’t change a company’s value, they tend to generate renewed interest in the stock as the lower price makes it more attractive to a larger group of investors, driving up the value. Nike said it plans a two-for-one stock split, with the split being in the form of a stock dividend payable December 23 to shareholders as of December 9.

Nike (NYSE:NKE) has been given a $131.00 price objective by equities research analysts at HSBC in a report issued on Wednesday, Analyst Ratings.Net reports. Finally, Goldman Sachs restated a “buy” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Nike in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Cowen and Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Nike in a research note on Sunday, September 27th. Its consensus analyst price target is $140.79 and its 52-week range is $90.69 to $133.52.

The stock has a market capitalization of $107.19 billion and a P/E ratio of 31.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.12 and a 200-day moving average of $114.24.

Last month, Nike announced that its annual sales would increase by about 60 percent by 2020. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) has risen 27.63% since April 17, 2015 and is uptrending. The footwear maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.15. Shares shorted can actually exceed 50% of the float in a company. On average, analysts anticipate that Nike will post $4.30 EPS for the current year.

NIKE’s buyback plan is $12 billion with a four-year period to expiration. The company expects the current $8 billion program to be completed before the end of fiscal 2016, and the new program to begin at completion of the current program. The Company sells its products through NIKE owned web sites and retail stores. NIKE is a seller of athletic footwear and athletic clothes around the world. The Company concentrate its NIKE Brand product offerings in eight classes: Jogging, Basketball, Football (Soccer), Men’s Training, Women’s Training, Action Sports, Sportswear and Golf. Basketball and Men’s Training include its Brand Jordan merchandise offerings and United States soccer product offerings and its baseball, respectively. The Business also markets products made for kids, in addition to for other athletic and recreational uses, for example cricket, lacrosse, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, outdoor and walking activities. The Organization operates in Greater China, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, North America, Japan and Emerging Markets.