GAP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GAP)

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 27,840 put options on the company. This is an increase of 70% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,398 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted 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, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

Insider Activity

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 3,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.58, for a total transaction of $66,434.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 133,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,610,816.78. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 40,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total transaction of $818,133.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,181.56. The trade was a 99.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 177,495 shares of company stock valued at $3,598,459 in the last ninety days. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 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 quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GAP Stock Up 5.5 %

GAP stock opened at $22.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. GAP has a 12 month low of $18.54 and a 12 month high of $26.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.52.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. Equities analysts expect that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. GAP’s payout ratio is 29.86%.

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.