Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the first quarter worth $33,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Macy’s by 267.1% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Estabrook Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Macy’s by 77.8% in the first quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Macy’s by 221.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Macy’s

In other news, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total value of $291,682.17. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,885,848.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at $437,937.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total transaction of $291,682.17. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 248,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,885,848.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock valued at $4,405,507. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.45.

Macy’s Stock Performance

M opened at $19.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.16 and a beta of 2.15. Macy’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.54 and a 52-week high of $22.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.00.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.1737 dividend. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 186.49%.

About Macy’s

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.