Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stake in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,400 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.05% of Macy's worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Macy's by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 68,721 shares of the company's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,560 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Macy's by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 7,838,240 shares of the company's stock worth $132,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,572 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Macy's by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 16,458 shares of the company's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 6,018 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its stake in Macy's by 165.7% in the 4th quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 330,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,595,000 after buying an additional 206,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Macy's by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 120,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,039,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macy's Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of M stock traded up $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $10.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,631,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,184,819. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.73. Macy's, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.76 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The stock's 50 day moving average is $12.94 and its 200-day moving average is $14.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. Macy's had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.44%.

Insider Activity at Macy's

In other Macy's news, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,107.10. This trade represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 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 transaction of $264,606.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 321,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,073,373.92. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790 in the last 90 days. 2.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on M. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Macy's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their target price on Macy's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Macy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark raised shares of Macy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Macy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.40.

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.