Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in The Gap, Inc. $GAP

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 607,470 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,053 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in GAP were worth $13,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of GAP by 101.0% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,184,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,041 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in GAP by 18.6% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 87,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 13,723 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in GAP by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,166,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,399,000 after purchasing an additional 151,297 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in GAP in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,129,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in GAP by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,899,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,239,000 after buying an additional 145,427 shares during the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In related news, Director Robert J. Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.90, for a total transaction of $11,450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,829,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,795,595.80. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 62,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,971.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,665. This trade represents a 62.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,008,137 shares of company stock worth $23,769,085. 30.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

GAP Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE GAP opened at $27.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.17. The Gap, Inc. has a one year low of $16.99 and a one year high of $29.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.59.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. GAP had a return on equity of 27.04% and a net margin of 5.86%.The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GAP shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on GAP from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on GAP from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

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.