Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115,880 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Macy’s worth $2,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Macy’s by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 80,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased 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 purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Macy’s by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 45,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 16,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

M has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Benchmark upgraded Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.

Macy’s Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE M opened at $13.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 2.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.24. Macy’s, Inc. has a one year low of $12.48 and a one year high of $20.70.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 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 company had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.76 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 35.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Macy’s news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $42,923.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,746,623.20. This trade represents a 1.13 % 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 Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. 2.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.