Brave Asset Management Inc. Sells 9,500 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Brave Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,500 shares during the period. Brave Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in M. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645,577 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 260.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,547,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841,432 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 544,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 73,924 shares during the period. Cartenna Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,025,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,287,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,173,000 after purchasing an additional 565,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy’s news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,937.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,937.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $270,544.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,098 shares in the company, valued at $2,023,581.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,994 shares of company stock valued at $3,120,008 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE M traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.98. The stock had a trading volume of 8,341,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,466,055. Macy’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.54 and a 1 year high of $22.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 54.00 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.1737 dividend. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 186.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Macy’s in a research note on Saturday, March 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.45.

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.