GAP (NYSE:GAP) Trading Down 2.8% After Insider Selling

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) was down 2.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $20.23 and last traded at $20.18. Approximately 1,274,666 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $74,460.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,160. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GAP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Argus upgraded shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GAP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.

GAP Trading Down 2.6 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is 29.86%.

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.