New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys New Position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 245,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,065,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of GAP as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GAP. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,107,000. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,210,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $96,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,422,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,519,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 51,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $1,387,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 123,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,347,595. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 30.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GAP. Wells Fargo & Company cut GAP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on GAP from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on GAP from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on GAP from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.47.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of GAP stock traded up $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $23.10. 7,585,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,814,751. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 2.14. The Gap, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.99 and a 1-year high of $29.29. The company's fifty day moving average is $23.55 and its 200 day moving average is $22.49.

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

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. GAP's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

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.