Brokerages Set The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) PT at $29.25

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.25.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of GAP in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GAP opened at $20.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.54. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $18.54 and a fifty-two week high of $26.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Research analysts anticipate that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. GAP’s payout ratio is presently 29.86%.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other GAP news, CEO Horacio Barbeito sold 40,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total value of $818,133.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 308 shares in the company, valued at $6,181.56. This trade represents a 99.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $74,460.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,160. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,495 shares of company stock worth $3,598,459 in the last quarter. Insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in GAP stock. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of GAP at the end of the most recent reporting period. 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.