GAP (NYSE:GPS) Shares Down 5.1%

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) shares fell 5.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.71 and last traded at $20.76. 1,066,441 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 7,510,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GPS. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Cowen raised their price target on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.89.

GAP Trading Down 6.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.46 and a 200 day moving average of $19.07.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.75) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total transaction of $2,639,785.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,348.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,832. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total value of $2,639,785.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 141,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,348.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,723 shares of company stock worth $6,886,765 in the last three months. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 317.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of GAP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in GAP by 117.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in GAP by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in GAP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GAP Company Profile

The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.