GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Price Down 4.1% – Should You Sell?

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) shares were down 4.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $19.23 and last traded at $19.26. Approximately 950,088 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,828,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GAP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised GAP from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.27.

GAP Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.36.

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 given 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 3.45%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.56%.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other GAP news, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 243,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.02, for a total value of $6,345,445.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,820,467 shares in the company, valued at $99,408,551.34. This represents a 6.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.18, for a total value of $6,045,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,000,752 shares in the company, valued at $24,198,183.36. The trade was a 19.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 617,818 shares of company stock worth $15,642,893 in the last 90 days. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

GAP Company 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.