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 Friday. Stock investors purchased 39,370 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 68% compared to the average volume of 23,386 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.78.

Macy’s Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE M opened at $15.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99 and a beta of 2.07. Macy’s has a 12 month low of $13.66 and a 12 month high of $22.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,023,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,110,000 after purchasing an additional 128,258 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Macy’s by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,611,000 after buying an additional 195,880 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $41,765,000 after buying an additional 118,626 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 5.2% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,420,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,280,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 795,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,484,000 after acquiring an additional 194,443 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.