GAP (NYSE:GAP) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)’s stock price 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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.

GAP Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.52.

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

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. GAP’s payout ratio is currently 29.86%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other news, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $74,460.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $84,160. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 16,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $328,003.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at $2,533,013.55. This represents a 11.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,495 shares of company stock valued at $3,598,459 in the last three months. Corporate 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 stake in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Hedge funds and other 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.