Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 758,366 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,507,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 758,366 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.71% of Macy’s worth $550,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Macy’s by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Macy’s during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on M. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,107.10. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. The trade was a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE M opened at $12.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.48 and a 1 year high of $20.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 2.07.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 35.44%.

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.