Macy's (NYSE:M) Downgraded to "Neutral" Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) was downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $12.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $17.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.24% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price objective on Macy's in a report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Macy's in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Macy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Macy's presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.40.

Macy's Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE M traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.19. The company had a trading volume of 5,884,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,234,919. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 1.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $12.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.68. Macy's has a 1-year low of $9.76 and a 1-year high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. Macy's had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.76 billion. On average, analysts predict that Macy's will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $47,938.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 116,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,107.10. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,746,623.20. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. 2.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in Macy's in the 3rd quarter valued at about $193,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macy's during the 3rd quarter worth $594,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Macy's during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Macy's during the 3rd quarter worth $730,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Macy's by 57.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company's stock worth $12,276,000 after buying an additional 286,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

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.