Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Macy’s Call Options (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 29,879 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 70% compared to the average volume of 17,585 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on M shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Macy’s from $22.00 to $17.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Macy’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Argus raised Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Macy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.43.

Macy’s Stock Performance

NYSE M traded up $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,805,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,421,746. Macy’s has a 52 week low of $10.59 and a 52 week high of $22.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 521.33 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.50.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.23. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.80% and a return on equity of 23.14%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.1737 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 2,300.00%.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Macy’s by 1,539.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,534,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,871,000 after buying an additional 3,319,337 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Macy’s by 9.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,385,000 after buying an additional 1,379,476 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Macy’s by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,704,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,333,000 after acquiring an additional 747,542 shares during the period. Beryl Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 1st quarter worth $7,015,000. Finally, Alden Global Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Macy’s by 56.1% during the second quarter. Alden Global Capital LLC now owns 606,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,649,000 after buying an additional 218,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

About Macy’s

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.