Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Price

GAP (NYSE:GAP) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on GAP from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on GAP from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on GAP from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on GAP from $32.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.93.

GAP Price Performance

NYSE GAP opened at $26.25 on Monday. GAP has a twelve month low of $16.99 and a twelve month high of $26.41. 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 market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.42.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.18. GAP had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Research analysts anticipate that GAP will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

GAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is 29.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $74,460.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $84,160. This represents a 46.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $606,396.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,575.56. This trade represents a 91.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,495 shares of company stock worth $3,598,459 in the last three months. Insiders own 30.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GAP. Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in GAP during the 1st quarter worth approximately $592,222,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $63,674,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $56,763,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $32,655,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in GAP in the 1st quarter valued at $12,210,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.