Analysts Set Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M) Price Target at $17.45

Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.45.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Macy's from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup upgraded Macy's from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Macy's from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Macy's from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Macy's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Macy's news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of Macy's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $437,937.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Jeffrey Gennette sold 78,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $1,604,338.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 994,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,303,626.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock valued at $4,405,507. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy's

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Macy's by 7.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company's stock worth $422,390,000 after buying an additional 2,645,577 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Macy's by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,398,149 shares of the company's stock worth $249,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,986 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position in shares of Macy's by 0.6% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 7,810,216 shares of the company's stock worth $90,677,000 after purchasing an additional 45,159 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Macy's by 48.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,272,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Macy's by 20.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,287,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,173,000 after purchasing an additional 565,269 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macy's Price Performance

Shares of M stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.43. 3,817,838 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,645,133. The stock's 50-day moving average is $19.63 and its 200-day moving average is $17.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 2.15. Macy's has a 52 week low of $10.54 and a 52 week high of $22.10.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Macy's had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. Macy's's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Macy's will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.1737 dividend. This is a positive change from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Macy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 186.49%.

Macy's Company Profile

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.