GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Price Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) traded down 2.8% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $20.23 and last traded at $20.18. 1,274,666 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,987,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.76.

Specifically, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $74,460.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,160. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GAP. 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

GAP Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.89 and a 200 day moving average of $22.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

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

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.86%.

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.