GAP (NYSE:GPS) Shares Down 3.3%

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS)’s stock price fell 3.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $21.91 and last traded at $21.91. 536,072 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 7,745,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on GAP from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Daiwa America raised GAP to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.11.

GAP Trading Down 2.8 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.36. The stock has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. GAP’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other GAP news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total value of $580,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $580,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 51,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,218,635.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,132 shares of company stock valued at $654,003 in the last quarter. 30.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GAP by 14.1% during the first 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 during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in GAP by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 367,130 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,677,000 after acquiring an additional 91,151 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in GAP by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in GAP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in GAP by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,513,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.