JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Price

GAP (NYSE:GAP) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $30.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on GAP from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of GAP from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Argus raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.31.

GAP Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of GAP stock opened at $19.36 on Monday. GAP has a 1 year low of $16.99 and a 1 year high of $26.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.41. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

GAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is an increase from GAP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio is 29.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Gruber sold 1,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $30,109.83. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,568.05. This represents a 3.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elisabeth B. Donohue sold 3,539 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,160. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,495 shares of company stock valued at $3,598,459 in the last 90 days. 31.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in shares of GAP in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,210,000. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,953,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in GAP in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,971,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.