Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,994 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175,716 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $3,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barington Capital Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 550.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,198,000 after purchasing an additional 550,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,314,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,116,000 after purchasing an additional 419,261 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,512,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,461,000 after purchasing an additional 411,412 shares in the last quarter. Lind Value II ApS purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,733,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,276,000 after purchasing an additional 286,879 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Macy’s Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of M opened at $13.09 on Friday. Macy’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.60 and a 52-week high of $22.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.76 billion. Research analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 35.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on M shares. Telsey Advisory Group set a $15.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark raised shares of Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.56.

About Macy’s

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.