The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts GAP (NYSE:GPS) Price Target to $16.00

GAP (NYSE:GPS – Get Rating) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

GPS has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of GAP from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a market perform rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of GAP in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of GAP from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of GAP from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of GAP from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $11.50.

GAP Price Performance

Shares of GPS opened at $10.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -18.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $12.98 and its 200-day moving average is $11.83. GAP has a fifty-two week low of $7.79 and a fifty-two week high of $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

GAP (NYSE:GPS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The apparel retailer reported ($0.75) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by ($0.16). GAP had a negative net margin of 1.29% and a negative return on equity of 6.07%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 4th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. GAP’s payout ratio is -109.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GAP news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 7,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.34, for a total transaction of $90,217.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,413.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,101 shares of company stock worth $100,492. 44.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GPS. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in GAP by 208.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,923 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in GAP by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in GAP by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in GAP by 14.2% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 13,161 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc RI acquired a new stake in GAP in the third quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.72% of the company’s stock.

GAP Company Profile

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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.