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

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) shot up 3.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $20.78 and last traded at $20.89. 787,441 shares traded 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on GAP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

GAP Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.52. 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 company has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. On average, research analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other news, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $606,396.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,575.56. This represents a 91.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 $84,160. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,731 shares of company stock valued at $2,780,326 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of GAP at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

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.