The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Director Tracy Gardner Sells 2,934 Shares of Stock

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $68,890.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,901 shares in the company, valued at $1,218,635.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPS opened at $23.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The Gap, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.58 and a 12 month high of $30.75.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.27. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. GAP’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,965 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,513,000 after buying an additional 3,109 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on GAP from $17.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on GAP from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup raised GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Cowen raised their price target on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.98.

About GAP

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.