Baird R W Upgrades GAP (NYSE:GAP) to “Strong-Buy”

GAP (NYSE:GAP) was upgraded by Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on GAP. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price target on shares of GAP and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research upgraded GAP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on GAP from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.86.

GAP Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of GAP opened at $27.23 on Wednesday. GAP has a twelve month low of $16.99 and a twelve month high of $29.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.53.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. GAP had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 24.91%. GAP’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, Director Robert J. Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.45, for a total value of $13,725,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,329,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,944,829.90. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $81,330.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $27,110. The trade was a 75.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,819,044 shares of company stock worth $47,467,065 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 30.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in GAP in the third quarter worth $765,000. Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GAP in the third quarter worth about $758,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 71,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GAP by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,588,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,154,000 after acquiring an additional 180,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co purchased a new stake in GAP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,716,000. Institutional investors own 58.81% 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.