HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,282 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,282 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Macy’s by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 72,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Macy’s by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 21,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 6,530 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Macy’s by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $624,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Macy’s by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 80,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macy’s

In related news, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $47,938.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,107.10. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $42,923.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,746,623.20. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of M opened at $12.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 2.07. Macy’s, Inc. has a one year low of $12.48 and a one year high of $20.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on M. Citigroup cut their target price on Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

About Macy’s

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.