The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Receives $29.50 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of GAP from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of GAP in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on GAP from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on GAP from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of GAP from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 243,868 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.02, for a total transaction of $6,345,445.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,820,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,408,551.34. This trade represents a 6.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder John J. Fisher sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.18, for a total transaction of $6,045,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,000,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,198,183.36. This trade represents a 19.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 955,375 shares of company stock valued at $24,316,219. Company insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

GAP Trading Up 3.4 %

GAP stock opened at $23.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.78. GAP has a 1-year low of $18.34 and a 1-year high of $30.75.

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

GAP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

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.