Macy’s (NYSE:M) Given New $12.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Macy’s (NYSE:M) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Benchmark raised shares of Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, New Street Research set a $13.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Macy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

Macy’s Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $11.50 on Tuesday. Macy’s has a 52-week low of $9.76 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.32 and its 200-day moving average is $14.48.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1824 dividend. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macy’s

In other news, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,073,373.92. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,536,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,298,000 after buying an additional 91,500 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Macy’s in the first quarter valued at about $146,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the first quarter worth about $640,000. Readystate Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 64.1% during the first quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 445,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 174,169 shares during the period. Finally, Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Macy’s by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 18,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.