BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS - Free Report) by 33.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 367,130 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 91,151 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.10% of GAP worth $7,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in GAP in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in GAP by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 263,675 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,265 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC purchased a new position in GAP during the 4th quarter worth $443,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of GAP by 6.5% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 368,274 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 22,316 shares during the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at $31,832. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other GAP news, CFO Katrina O'connell sold 2,724 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $64,558.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at $31,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 266,723 shares of company stock worth $6,886,765. Corporate insiders own 30.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of GAP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup raised GAP from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of GAP from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GAP currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.15.

GAP Stock Performance

Shares of GPS stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.60. The stock had a trading volume of 3,786,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,559,245. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The Gap, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.22 and a twelve month high of $28.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.65.

GAP (NYSE:GPS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. GAP had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 22.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.75) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Gap, Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. GAP's dividend payout ratio is 44.78%.

About GAP

The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.