The Goldman Sachs Group Raises GAP (NYSE:GPS) Price Target to $25.00

GAP (NYSE:GPS) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $24.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded GAP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of GAP from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GAP presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.95.

GAP Trading Up 5.6 %

NYSE GPS opened at $21.35 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.28. GAP has a twelve month low of $7.22 and a twelve month high of $28.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.75) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that GAP will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total transaction of $2,639,785.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 141,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,348.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Katrina O’connell sold 2,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.70, for a total value of $64,558.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 93,809 shares of GAP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.14, for a total value of $2,639,785.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,377 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,348.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765. 30.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

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

GAP Company Profile

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.