Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in GAP were worth $863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPS. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of GAP by 317.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of GAP by 117.8% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,495 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of GAP by 208.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,923 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 4,678 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in GAP by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in GAP by 34.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132 shares during the period. 58.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GPS opened at $21.87 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.07. The Gap, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.22 and a 1-year high of $28.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.28.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. GAP had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 22.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.75) EPS. Analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised their target price on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on GAP to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $64,558.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other GAP news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $64,558.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $664,416.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,318.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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 adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.