The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) Receives $18.95 Average PT from Brokerages

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.95.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GPS. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Cowen boosted their price target on GAP from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $1,022,106.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 45,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $1,022,106.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $556,140.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765 in the last three months. 31.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in GAP by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 270,730 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,459,000 after buying an additional 7,055 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in GAP by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,305,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $63,519,000 after buying an additional 285,000 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in GAP during the 4th quarter worth $197,000. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in GAP during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in GAP during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

GAP Trading Down 3.4 %

GAP stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 2.28. GAP has a 52 week low of $7.22 and a 52 week high of $28.59.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.75) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s payout ratio is currently 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.