GAP (NYSE:GAP) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

GAP (NYSE:GAP) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on GAP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on GAP from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of GAP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.57.

GAP Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE GAP opened at $27.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. GAP has a one year low of $16.99 and a one year high of $29.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 2.17.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. GAP had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 27.04%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that GAP will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GAP

In other GAP news, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total value of $81,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,110. The trade was a 75.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.86, for a total value of $4,772,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,253,453 shares in the company, valued at $77,627,388.58. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,008,137 shares of company stock worth $23,769,085. 30.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GAP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GAP. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of GAP in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in GAP during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in GAP in the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. Covestor Ltd bought a new position in shares of GAP in the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of GAP in the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.