Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 36,856 Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,812,151 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Macy's by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,137,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,832,000 after buying an additional 774,693 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Macy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,689,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Macy's by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,059,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,143,000 after buying an additional 35,935 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Macy's by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,512,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,461,000 after buying an additional 411,412 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on M shares. Barclays began coverage on Macy's in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "cautious" rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark raised Macy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on Macy's in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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, Citigroup cut their price objective on Macy's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Macy's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Macy's Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE M traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.44. 1,491,148 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,303,473. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. Macy's, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.76 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $12.17 and its 200-day moving average is $14.37.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Analysts expect that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 272,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,746,623.20. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,596,107.10. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. 1.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.