GAP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GAP)

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 20,337 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,094 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

GAP Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE GAP opened at $22.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. GAP has a 52 week low of $18.54 and a 52 week high of $30.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.12.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.86%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In related news, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.18, for a total transaction of $6,045,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,000,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,198,183.36. This trade represents a 19.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 31.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GAP Company Profile

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.