Macy’s Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 159,218 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 710% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,667 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Macy’s news, EVP Danielle L. Kirgan sold 85,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $2,033,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,771.12. This trade represents a 62.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of M. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Macy’s by 6.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 6.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 25,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,849,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,790,000 after buying an additional 73,096 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 1st quarter valued at $9,201,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on M shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Macy’s from $14.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Macy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.45.

Macy’s Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:M opened at $24.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.44. Macy’s has a fifty-two week low of $9.76 and a fifty-two week high of $24.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.86.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.22. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. Macy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 43.20%.

Macy’s Company Profile

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.