GAP (NYSE:GAP) Major Shareholder John Fisher Sells 250,000 Shares

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) major shareholder John Fisher sold 250,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total transaction of $6,937,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 750,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,833,368. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

GAP Trading Up 1.6%

GAP stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $27.50. The stock had a trading volume of 8,469,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,235,976. The Gap, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.99 and a twelve month high of $29.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.57.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 27.04% and a net margin of 5.86%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 7th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of GAP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Barclays downgraded GAP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BTIG Research boosted their price target on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GAP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in GAP during the first quarter valued at about $32,655,000. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in GAP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,532,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

GAP Company Profile

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.