Marshall Wace LLP Increases Stock Position in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 1,230.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,387,193 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,207,809 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.86% of Macy's worth $40,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Macy's by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 68,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,560 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its holdings in Macy's by 26.2% during the fourth 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 grew its holdings in Macy's by 57.6% during the fourth 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 increased its position in Macy's by 165.7% during the fourth quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 330,470 shares of the company's stock worth $5,595,000 after buying an additional 206,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Macy's by 0.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Macy's

In related news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,887.64. The trade was a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,596,107.10. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. 2.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Macy's Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of M stock traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $11.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,784,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,174,600. The stock's 50-day moving average is $13.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66 and a beta of 1.73. Macy's, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.76 and a twelve month high of $20.70.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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 analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1824 dividend. This is a boost from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on M shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price target on shares of Macy's in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group cut 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Macy's in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Macy's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.40.

Macy's 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.