Polianta Ltd Invests $1.15 Million in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP)

Polianta Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 55,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter worth $96,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter worth $1,107,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter worth $3,519,000. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the fourth quarter worth $4,953,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the first quarter worth $12,210,000. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GAP. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of GAP from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up previously from $26.00) on shares of GAP in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of GAP from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.47.

GAP Stock Down 3.2%

GAP stock opened at $21.63 on Friday. 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 Gap, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.99 and a 1-year high of $29.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.20.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Gap, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. GAP’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 51,385 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,347,595. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 40,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total transaction of $818,133.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,181.56. This represents a 99.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,444 shares of company stock worth $2,348,404 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 30.56% of the company’s stock.

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.