Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on GAP (NYSE:GAP)

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 44,102 call options on the company. This is an increase of 236% compared to the typical volume of 13,116 call options.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GAP stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,028,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.37. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $18.34 and a fifty-two week high of $30.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.47.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. GAP’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. GAP’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 123,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.24, for a total value of $3,252,448.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,696,517 shares in the company, valued at $96,996,606.08. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.18, for a total value of $6,045,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,000,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,198,183.36. The trade was a 19.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 955,375 shares of company stock valued at $24,316,219. 31.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on GAP shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of GAP from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of GAP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of GAP from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GAP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

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.