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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 750,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,833,368. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of GAP stock opened at $27.50 on Tuesday. The Gap, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.99 and a 12-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 capitalization of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.57.

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

GAP Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of GAP by 1.3% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 45,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GAP during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of GAP by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 226,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of GAP in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GAP presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.