Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Macy’s (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 42,968 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 56% compared to the typical volume of 27,492 call options.

Macy’s Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:M opened at $13.57 on Wednesday. Macy’s has a twelve month low of $12.60 and a twelve month high of $22.10. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 2.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.38%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is currently 35.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on M. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Cowen reissued 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, New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in M. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the third quarter worth about $211,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Macy’s by 21.2% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 125,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Macy’s by 3.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 410,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after buying an additional 15,401 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Macy’s by 19.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Macy’s by 937.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.