Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 2,207,809 Shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 1,230.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,387,193 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,207,809 shares during the quarter. 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 large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in M. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy's during the third quarter valued at $193,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Macy's by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,023,790 shares of the company's stock worth $79,110,000 after acquiring an additional 128,258 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Macy's during the 3rd quarter valued at $594,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Macy's during the third quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Macy's in the third quarter worth approximately $730,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on M. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Macy's in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on shares of Macy's in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Macy's in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Macy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on Macy's in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,107.10. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Insiders own 2.77% of the company's stock.

Macy's Stock Performance

NYSE:M traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.13. The stock had a trading volume of 5,510,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,194,865. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.84. Macy's, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.76 and a 12-month high of $20.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 1.73. 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 (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. 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 6.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Macy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.44%.

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.