Raymond James & Associates Has $431,000 Stock Holdings in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,432 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Macy’s were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Macy’s by 7.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,390,000 after buying an additional 2,645,577 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Macy’s by 260.8% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,547,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841,432 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Macy’s by 15.7% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 544,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 73,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Macy’s by 20.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,287,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,173,000 after purchasing an additional 565,269 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $6,021,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on M shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup upgraded Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macy’s

In other Macy’s news, Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 30,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.66, for a total value of $591,569.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,073,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,108,922.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Macy’s news, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total value of $291,682.17. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 248,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,885,848.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 30,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.66, for a total value of $591,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,073,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,108,922.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:M opened at $18.43 on Friday. Macy’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.54 and a fifty-two week high of $22.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 2.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.52.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.47. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business 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 business posted $1.88 EPS. Macy’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.1737 dividend. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 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.