Monte Financial Group LLC Acquires 34,992 Shares of The Gap, Inc. $GAP

Monte Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,992 shares during the quarter. GAP accounts for 2.1% of Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in GAP were worth $6,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GAP in the second quarter valued at approximately $428,824,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in GAP during the second quarter worth approximately $30,345,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in GAP during the 2nd quarter worth $12,794,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in GAP during the 2nd quarter worth $12,180,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in GAP during the 2nd quarter worth $10,911,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on GAP in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on GAP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of GAP in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of GAP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other GAP news, insider Julie Gruber sold 27,538 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.56, for a total value of $648,795.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,876 shares in the company, valued at $727,438.56. The trade was a 47.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.89, for a total value of $11,945,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,903,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,927,400.22. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,027,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,249,556. 31.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GAP Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of GAP opened at $22.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The Gap, Inc. has a one year low of $18.11 and a one year high of $29.36. The company has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.12.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. GAP had a return on equity of 19.72% and a net margin of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. GAP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.450 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.40 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 7th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.90%.

GAP 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. The Old Navy Global segment offers clothing and accessories for adults and children.