GAP Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GAP)

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 27,840 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 70% compared to the typical volume of 16,398 put options.

Insider Activity at GAP

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 16,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $328,003.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,533,013.55. This trade represents a 11.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $46,330.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $166,573.77. The trade was a 21.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,495 shares of company stock valued at $3,598,459. Corporate insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of GAP at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

GAP Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GAP traded up $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.41. 6,245,715 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,476,170. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.20 and its 200-day moving average is $22.53. GAP has a 52-week low of $18.54 and a 52-week high of $26.41.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GAP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

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.