JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases GAP (NYSE:GPS) Price Target to $10.00

GAP (NYSE:GPS – Get Rating) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on GAP from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of GAP from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of GAP from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of GAP from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of GAP from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GAP presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.50.

GAP Price Performance

GPS stock opened at $10.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.98 and a 200-day moving average of $11.83. GAP has a 12-month low of $7.79 and a 12-month high of $15.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.94.

GAP (NYSE:GPS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The apparel retailer reported ($0.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. GAP’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that GAP will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GAP Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Breitbard sold 7,311 shares of the company’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 value of $90,217.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,413.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 8,101 shares of company stock worth $100,492 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 44.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPS. Towle & Co lifted its position in GAP by 9,453.9% in the 3rd quarter. Towle & Co now owns 2,637,840 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $21,657,000 after buying an additional 2,610,230 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of GAP during the 4th quarter valued at $20,617,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in shares of GAP by 214.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 1,366,694 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,262,000 after purchasing an additional 931,496 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GAP by 470.4% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 360,438 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,075,000 after purchasing an additional 297,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of GAP by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 38,608,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $318,135,000 after purchasing an additional 247,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.72% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

(Get Rating)

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.