Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M) Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,440,460 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 624,362 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.52% of Macy's worth $24,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Macy's during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Macy's by 82.1% in 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 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Macy's by 495.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Macy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Macy's Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE M traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.43. The company had a trading volume of 5,776,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,234,070. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $12.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.65. Macy's, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.76 and a 1-year high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy's had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. On average, analysts predict that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.38%. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.44%.

Insider Activity at Macy's

In other Macy's news, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 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 $264,606.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,073,373.92. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of Macy'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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,596,107.10. This trade represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on M. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Macy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Macy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.18.

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.