GAP (NYSE:GAP) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

GAP (NYSE:GAP) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.05, Zacks reports. GAP had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 27.04%.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GAP traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.07. 15,896,182 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,141,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.68. GAP has a 1-year low of $16.99 and a 1-year high of $29.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.56 and a 200-day moving average of $22.47.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. GAP’s payout ratio is currently 28.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on GAP from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded GAP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded GAP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered GAP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GAP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other GAP news, Director Robert J. Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.90, for a total value of $11,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,829,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,795,595.80. This trade represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 243,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.82, for a total transaction of $5,789,784.48. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,453,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,261,250.46. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 943,064 shares of company stock valued at $22,011,784. 30.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Trust Co purchased a new stake in GAP in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,716,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of GAP by 2,197.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 645,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,800,000 after acquiring an additional 617,073 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in GAP during the third quarter worth about $1,532,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in GAP during the third quarter worth about $766,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in GAP by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 37,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,326 shares during the last quarter. 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.