Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on GAP (NYSE:GAP)

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 27,840 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 70% compared to the average daily volume of 16,398 put options.

GAP Price Performance

GAP stock opened at $17.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.02 and a 200-day moving average of $22.49. GAP has a 1 year low of $17.28 and a 1 year high of $26.41.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. GAP’s payout ratio is currently 29.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 80,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total transaction of $1,628,590.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,701.50. This trade represents a 90.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $74,460.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $84,160. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,495 shares of company stock worth $3,598,459 in the last 90 days. 31.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of GAP as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GAP shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GAP has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

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.