Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Macy’s (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 28,106 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 47% compared to the average volume of 19,145 call options.

Macy’s Stock Performance

NYSE:M opened at $11.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.74. Macy’s has a twelve month low of $9.76 and a twelve month high of $20.47.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. Macy’s had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Macy’s’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy’s news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,887.64. The trade was a 37.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $264,606.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,073,373.92. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,092 shares of company stock worth $305,482. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in M. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in Macy’s by 106.0% in the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 2,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 495.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 1st quarter valued at $105,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on M. Barclays began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a “cautious” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Macy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.20.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.