Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 1,149,454 Shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,751,211 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,149,454 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.67% of Macy's worth $266,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy's during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Macy's by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Macy's in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Macy's by 495.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Macy's during the fourth quarter worth about $102,000. Institutional investors 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 Macy's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 116,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,107.10. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. Corporate insiders own 2.77% of the company's stock.

Macy's Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:M traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.02. 7,934,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,216,665. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.72. Macy's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.76 and a 52 week high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.73.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.76 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This is a boost from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on M shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Macy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Macy's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Tuesday. New Street Research set a $13.00 price objective on Macy's in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Macy's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.40.

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.