5 Stocks to Buy in April According to Jim Cramer

3. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) markets athletic footwear and apparel. The former hedge fund manager gave the stock a positive mention during the Discussed Stock segment of his show on April 11, taking the views of a senior executive of JPMorgan on the stock who believed the stock was thriving as it had pricing power in a period of high consumer spending. In late March, Cramer had discussed what set the stock apart from competitors. 

On March 22, Truist analyst Beth Reed maintained a Buy rating on NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) stock and raised the price target to $176 from $164, noting that the fundamentals of the firm remained unchanged and the alleviation of concerns around the supply chain and China would serve to boost the shares in the coming months. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, London-based investment firm Fundsmith LLP is a leading shareholder in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) with 8.7 million shares worth more than $1.4 billion.  

In its Q4 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is another play on e-commerce as well as the anticipated growth in consumer spending as we learn to live with COVID-19. After selling out of the stock in 2016 due to competitive concerns, we were motivated to repurchase shares because of optimism around a new management team’s focus on accelerating Nike’s shift toward e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) distribution. Near-term supply chain issues in Vietnam and retail weakness in China that we see as ephemeral provided a good buying opportunity. We do not believe the market is giving proper credit to Nike’s potential to deliver attractive, high-single-digit revenue growth while delivering operating margin expansion as more merchandise is sold direct. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is also still underindexed to the women’s category, which we see as a significant ongoing catalyst.”