GAP (NYSE:GAP) Trading Down 4.8% on Insider Selling

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)’s share price fell 4.8% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $25.39 and last traded at $25.2830. 1,004,274 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 9,163,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.56.

Specifically, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 400,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total transaction of $10,808,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,853,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,100,300.06. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.45, for a total transaction of $13,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,329,502 shares in the company, valued at $63,944,829.90. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GAP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of GAP in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays lowered shares of 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 report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on GAP from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

GAP Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.28.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 5.57%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in GAP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $765,000. Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GAP in the third quarter worth approximately $758,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of GAP by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 71,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in GAP by 4.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,588,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,154,000 after buying an additional 180,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co purchased a new stake in GAP in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,716,000. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.