American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,137,132 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 774,693 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $120,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of M. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $159,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Macy’s by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,661,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,765,000 after acquiring an additional 118,626 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Macy’s in the third quarter valued at about $479,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Macy’s Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $13.27 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.32. 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 company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 2.07. Macy’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.60 and a fifty-two week high of $20.71.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1824 dividend. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on M. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. New Street Research set a $13.00 price objective on Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price target on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

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.