Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 180,019 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 356,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180,019 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Macy’s worth $7,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of M. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Macy’s by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 140,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Macy’s by 253.1% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 77,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Macy’s

In other news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Macy’s news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $69,702.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 104,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,113,176. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $270,544.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,023,581.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on M shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of M opened at $19.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.95. Macy’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.54 and a 1-year high of $22.10. The company has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.46 and a beta of 2.16.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.1737 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 186.49%.

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.