The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Receives $29.27 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.27.

Several brokerages have weighed in on GAP. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on GAP from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

GAP Stock Down 2.7 %

GAP stock opened at $22.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.84. GAP has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $30.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.36.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.16. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. GAP’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. GAP’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.78, for a total transaction of $6,445,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,579,502 shares in the company, valued at $92,279,561.56. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 87,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.45, for a total transaction of $2,228,325.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 955,375 shares of company stock valued at $24,316,219 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

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.