Insider Selling: The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Insider Sells 29,813 Shares of Stock

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $606,396.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,634 shares in the company, valued at $53,575.56. The trade was a 91.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GAP opened at $20.19 on Thursday. The Gap, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.54 and a 52-week high of $26.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.52.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This is a positive change from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of GAP as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

About GAP

Gap, Inc operates as a global apparel retail company, which offers clothing, apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children. The firm operates through the following segments: Gap Global, Old Navy Global, Banana Republic Global, Athleta, and Other. The Gap Global segment includes apparel and accessories for men and women under the Gap brand, along with the GapKids, BabyGap, GapMaternity, GapBody, and GapFit collections.