Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Director Sells $1,604,338.14 in Stock

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 78,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $1,604,338.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 994,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,303,626.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Jeffrey Gennette also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 25th, Jeffrey Gennette sold 19,609 shares of Macy’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $397,670.52.

Macy’s Stock Performance

M opened at $19.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.64 and a beta of 2.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Macy’s, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.54 and a 12-month high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.1737 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 186.49%.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 133,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 10,508 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 126,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 755,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen downgraded Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Macy’s in a research note on Saturday, March 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.45.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.