Insider Selling: Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) EVP Sells 2,780 Shares of Stock

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Macy’s Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:M traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $12.60. The company had a trading volume of 6,535,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,063,796. Macy’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.48 and a 1 year high of $20.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Equities analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.79%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Macy’s by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,661,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,765,000 after buying an additional 118,626 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,611,000 after buying an additional 195,880 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Macy’s by 8.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 362,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,688,000 after acquiring an additional 27,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 63,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on M shares. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.

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.