Insider Selling: The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) CEO Sells 3,393 Shares of Stock

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) CEO Mark Breitbard sold 3,393 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $66,434.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 133,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,610,816.78. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Mark Breitbard also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 14th, Mark Breitbard sold 16,055 shares of GAP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $328,003.65.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of GAP stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.35. 8,934,955 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,109,398. The Gap, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.54 and a 12 month high of $26.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. GAP’s payout ratio is 29.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of GAP as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GAP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

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.