Insider Selling: The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) Director Sells $1,303,120.51 in Stock

The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,303,120.51. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,718,832.61. The trade was a 43.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Macerich Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MAC opened at $19.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 51.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.48. The Macerich Company has a twelve month low of $12.99 and a twelve month high of $22.27.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.54 million. Macerich had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Macerich Company will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Macerich’s payout ratio is 174.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Macerich from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho raised shares of Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macerich

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Macerich by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,426,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,004,000 after purchasing an additional 34,982 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 91.4% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 193,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after buying an additional 92,551 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 0.7% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 314,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,727,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 0.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 275,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Macerich during the third quarter valued at about $1,131,000. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor.