Investors Research Corp Reduces Position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Investors Research Corp cut its position in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,547,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Macy’s by 1,959.6% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 28,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 27,435 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $825,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,527,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at $437,937.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 30,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.66, for a total transaction of $591,569.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,073,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,108,922.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on M. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE M opened at $18.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.09. Macy’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.54 and a 1 year high of $22.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 51.08 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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. On average, research analysts predict that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.1737 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. 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. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 186.49%.

Macy’s Profile

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.