New York State Common Retirement Fund Takes Position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 114,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,351,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,763,000. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in shares of GAP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $12,210,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $7,422,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of GAP in the 1st quarter worth $5,065,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of GAP in the 4th quarter worth $4,953,000. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company's stock.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE GAP traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $20.64. 5,699,835 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,178,719. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $22.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.24. The Gap, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.99 and a fifty-two week high of $29.29. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.14.

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

GAP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. GAP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GAP shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on GAP from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on GAP from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut GAP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.53.

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.