Macy’s (NYSE:M) Lowered to Neutral Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $12.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $17.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on M. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Macy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Macy’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.40.

Macy’s Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $10.86 on Tuesday. Macy’s has a 12-month low of $9.76 and a 12-month high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.77.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.72%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Insider Activity at Macy’s

In other news, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $264,606.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,073,373.92. This trade represents a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790 over the last ninety days. 2.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of M. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Macy’s by 495.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $102,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.