Rhumbline Advisers Acquires New Position in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 592,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,210,000. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.16% of GAP as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Separately, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in GAP during the 1st quarter valued at $1,971,000. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GAP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on GAP from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of GAP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $29.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.47.

GAP Trading Down 3.2%

GAP stock traded down $0.72 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.63. 11,590,819 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,790,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.91. The company has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.20. The Gap, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.99 and a 52-week high of $29.29.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. GAP's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. GAP's payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 51,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at $3,347,595. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Katrina O'connell sold 2,365 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $46,330.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at $166,573.77. The trade was a 21.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 225,341 shares of company stock valued at $4,911,394 over the last quarter. 30.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.