Macy's Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:M)

Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 28,106 call options on the company. This is an increase of 47% compared to the average volume of 19,145 call options.

Insider Transactions at Macy's

In other news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,887.64. This represents a 37.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $264,606.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 321,244 shares of the company's stock, 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 24,092 shares of company stock valued at $305,482 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Macy's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of M. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Macy's by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,964,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,510,000 after acquiring an additional 212,791 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy's by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,699,534 shares of the company's stock worth $109,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,402 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macy's by 26.2% during 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. FMR LLC increased its position in Macy's by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,503,742 shares of the company's stock worth $127,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Macy's in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,868,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Macy's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:M traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.54. 4,207,580 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,172,056. Macy's has a 12-month low of $9.76 and a 12-month high of $20.47. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. Macy's had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Macy's will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Macy's's payout ratio is 37.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on M. Barclays began coverage on shares of Macy's in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "cautious" rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Macy's from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Macy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Gordon Haskett cut Macy's from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Macy's from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.20.

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.

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