GAP (NYSE:GAP) Trading Up 3.4% – Time to Buy?

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) shares traded up 3.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $20.78 and last traded at $20.89. 787,441 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 6,096,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GAP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GAP has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

GAP Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.50 and its 200 day moving average is $22.48.

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 return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. On average, research analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Gruber sold 1,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $30,109.83. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,395 shares in the company, valued at $732,568.05. The trade was a 3.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 3,393 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total value of $66,434.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 133,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,610,816.78. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,731 shares of company stock worth $2,780,326 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.