New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Takes Position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board bought a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GAP. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in GAP in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter worth $75,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter worth $81,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter worth $91,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter worth $96,000. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 51,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $1,387,395.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 123,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,347,595. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 30.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GAP stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.85. 7,472,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,813,309. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.48. The Gap, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.99 and a fifty-two week high of $29.29.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.41 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. GAP's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GAP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of GAP from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $29.00 target price (up from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.47.

GAP 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.