GAP (NYSE:GPS) Shares Down 5.1%

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS)’s stock price traded down 5.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.71 and last traded at $20.76. 1,066,441 shares changed 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet upgraded GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. KGI Securities boosted their price target on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.89.

GAP Stock Down 6.2 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.07. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

GAP Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $64,558.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other GAP news, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 4,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $115,300.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total transaction of $64,558.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765 over the last 90 days. 31.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPS. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of GAP by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,572,524 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $37,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,067 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of GAP by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,122,321 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $25,633,000 after purchasing an additional 40,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GAP by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,036,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $27,117,000 after purchasing an additional 145,468 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of GAP by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,305,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $63,519,000 after purchasing an additional 285,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter worth about $20,617,000. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

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.