GAP (NYSE:GAP) Major Shareholder John Fisher Sells 3,971 Shares

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) major shareholder John Fisher sold 3,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.04, for a total transaction of $107,375.84. Following the transaction, the insider owned 746,781 shares in the company, valued at $20,192,958.24. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GAP traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.84. 6,859,721 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,193,231. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 2.28. The Gap, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.99 and a 1-year high of $29.29.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 24.91%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. GAP’s payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GAP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $7,207,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in GAP in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,674,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter worth $3,532,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in GAP during the 1st quarter worth about $856,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of GAP by 101.0% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,184,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

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.