GAP (NYSE:GAP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.38, but opened at $19.06. GAP shares last traded at $17.43, with a volume of 4,420,129 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GAP. Argus upgraded shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their target price on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

GAP Trading Up 7.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. GAP’s payout ratio is currently 29.86%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 16,055 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $328,003.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,533,013.55. This represents a 11.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $606,396.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,575.56. The trade was a 91.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,495 shares of company stock worth $3,598,459 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

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

GAP Company Profile

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.