GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $42,000 in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,006 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in GAP by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $30,898,000 after buying an additional 80,792 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in GAP by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in GAP by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 74,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 35,223 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in GAP by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,513,000 after buying an additional 3,109 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in GAP by 266.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 35,495 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

GAP Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of GAP stock opened at $21.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The Gap, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.22 and a 52-week high of $28.59. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.34.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. GAP had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 22.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.75) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Gruber sold 9,414 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total value of $263,027.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Julie Gruber sold 9,414 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.94, for a total value of $263,027.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 27,222 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total transaction of $767,115.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,493,897.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 266,723 shares of company stock worth $6,886,765 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 30.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of GAP to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised their target price on shares of GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Cowen raised their target price on shares of GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.95.

GAP Profile

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.