Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 580 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,734 shares of the company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Macy’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Macy’s by 267.1% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Macy’s by 77.8% in the first quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Macy’s by 221.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Price Performance

M opened at $19.01 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.16. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.54 and a 52 week high of $22.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 51.38 and a beta of 2.15.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.1737 dividend. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 186.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danielle L. Kirgan sold 15,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $307,729.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 306,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,259,853.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $270,544.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,023,581.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danielle L. Kirgan sold 15,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $307,729.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 306,555 shares in the company, valued at $6,259,853.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,424 shares of company stock valued at $4,405,507 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on M shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised shares of Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.45.

About Macy’s

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.