What happened
To put it mildly, Wednesday was not the best day for a stock to be hit with a price target cut. But that was the situation with top athletic apparel maker Nike (NKE -0.43%), whose shares closed 5.6% lower -- a steeper decline than even the terrible 4% suffered by the bellwether S&P 500 stock index
So what
Bank of America (BAC 3.44%) Securities analyst Lorraine Hutchinson was the person wielding the blade. Wednesday morning, she adjusted her take on Nike stock with a price target shave to $125 per share from the preceding $140. That doesn't change Hutchinson's recommendation on the shares, though, which remains neutral.
The reasons behind the Bank of America prognosticator's move weren't immediately apparent.
Image source: Getty Images.
Additionally, Nike investors might be concerned about a report published Tuesday in the Financial Times. Citing an internal company email and "people familiar with the matter," the article said Nike's chief talent, diversity, and cultural officer Felicia Mayo is stepping down from her position, effective at the end of July.
She would be the second executive to vacate the post in as many years, the London-based newspaper reported. While Nike hasn't been known as a company with high top managerial turnover, some might worry that Mayo's apparent resignation indicates some level of dissent or dissatisfaction in the C-suite.
Now what
While not particularly positive, neither of these items is negative enough to justify a nearly 6% sell-off in Nike.
We have to look at this in context, though. Wednesday was a very dispiriting day for investors, not least because of the disappointing quarterly results posted by retail titan Target, until recently a very high-flying stock. As a knock-on effect, titles in the retail and consumer discretionary sectors were also sold off, at times considerably. If anything, then, Nike was a victim of lousy timing that day.
