Woodline Partners LP Buys Shares of 842,283 The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 842,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $16,778,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Macerich by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,617,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $769,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503,509 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Macerich by 87.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,047,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,192,000 after purchasing an additional 10,274,895 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Macerich by 845.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,051,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $200,222,000 after purchasing an additional 8,988,665 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Macerich by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,001,399 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $119,573,000 after purchasing an additional 574,490 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Macerich by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,171,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $103,012,000 after purchasing an additional 369,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MAC shares. Truist Financial raised shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Macerich from $16.70 to $14.40 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Macerich from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Macerich from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.95.

Macerich Stock Performance

Shares of Macerich stock opened at $15.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.13. The Macerich Company has a 52 week low of $12.48 and a 52 week high of $22.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.38.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $249.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $221.61 million. Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Macerich Company will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -158.14%.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor.