Northern Trust Corp Acquires 684,602 Shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,707,349 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 684,602 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.98% of Macy's worth $45,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of M. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Macy's by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,442 shares of the company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Macy's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 120,414 shares of the company's stock worth $2,039,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Macy's by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 80,549 shares of the company's stock worth $1,364,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Macy's by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,345 shares of the company's stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Macy's by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy's news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of Macy'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,073,373.92. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

Macy's Stock Up 6.2%

M traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,122,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,322,262. The stock's 50-day moving average is $12.19 and its 200-day moving average is $14.39. Macy's, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.76 and a 1 year 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 capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 1.77.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.76 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.91%. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on M shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on 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 report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Macy's in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Gordon Haskett cut Macy's from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.00.

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.