Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 2,003,751 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,163,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,003,751 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $70,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Macy’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Macy’s by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,887.64. This represents a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $42,923.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,746,623.20. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. 2.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on M. Citigroup reduced their target price on Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $15.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.

Macy’s Price Performance

NYSE:M opened at $12.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.26. Macy’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.48 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.76 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.79%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is currently 35.44%.

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.