The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) CEO Mark Breitbard Sells 27,222 Shares

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $767,115.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,493,897.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Mark Breitbard also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 25th, Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of GAP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total value of $2,639,785.26.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GAP stock opened at $27.29 on Thursday. The Gap, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.22 and a twelve month high of $28.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.71.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.75) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 2.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $30,898,000 after purchasing an additional 80,792 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 90.6% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 74,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 35,223 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 19.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 345,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 57,395 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 0.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 622,998 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,563,000 after acquiring an additional 5,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 17.3% in the third quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 102,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 15,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPS has been the subject of several recent research reports. TheStreet raised GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Cowen raised their price target on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.89.

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 denim and khakis; eyewear, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and fragrances; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.