Tracy Gardner Sells 2,934 Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Stock

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Director Tracy Gardner sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.48, for a total value of $68,890.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,218,635.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

GAP Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of GPS stock opened at $23.00 on Wednesday. The Gap, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.58 and a 1-year high of $30.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 2.39.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The apparel retailer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.27. GAP had a return on equity of 27.57% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Daiwa America raised GAP to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Citigroup raised GAP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Cowen raised their price objective on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, GAP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.98.

Institutional Trading of GAP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in GAP by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,965 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in GAP during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in GAP during the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP in the 4th quarter valued at about $197,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.