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

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) major shareholder John Fisher sold 3,971 shares of GAP 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 746,781 shares in the company, valued at $20,192,958.24. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GAP opened at $26.84 on Tuesday. The Gap, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.99 and a fifty-two week high of $29.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.97 and a 200-day moving average of $22.46.

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

GAP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 7th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of GAP from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on 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 lifted their price objective on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.57.

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.