Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 580 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,734 shares of the company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of M. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 171.1% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,582,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523,368 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645,577 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 3,453,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,309,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287,287 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,106,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,936 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,796,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,489,000 after buying an additional 2,118,174 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on M. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $19.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 51.38 and a beta of 2.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.71 and its 200 day moving average is $17.16. Macy’s, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.54 and a 52 week high of $22.10. 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 (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.1737 dividend. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 186.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macy’s

In other Macy’s news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at $437,937.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 78,567 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $1,604,338.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 994,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,303,626.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of Macy’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.