The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Insider Julie Gruber Sells 1,537 Shares

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) insider Julie Gruber sold 1,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $30,109.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,395 shares in the company, valued at $732,568.05. This trade represents a 3.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

GAP Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE GAP opened at $20.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.59 and a 200-day moving average of $22.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The Gap, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.54 and a 12 month high of $26.41. The company has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 58.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GAP. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.