The Goldman Sachs Group Increases GAP (NYSE:GPS) Price Target to $25.00

GAP (NYSE:GPS) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.10% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of GAP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised GAP from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on GAP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. KGI Securities boosted their target price on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on GAP to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.95.

GAP Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GPS opened at $21.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.52. GAP has a 52-week low of $7.22 and a 52-week high of $28.59.

GAP (NYSE:GPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.75) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GAP will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,832. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Sarah Gilligan sold 29,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $664,416.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,318.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of GAP stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $556,140.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at $31,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 266,723 shares of company stock valued at $6,886,765. 30.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of GAP by 14.1% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,305,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $63,519,000 after purchasing an additional 285,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in GAP by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 367,130 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,677,000 after buying an additional 91,151 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in GAP by 2.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $30,898,000 after acquiring an additional 80,792 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in shares of GAP in the fourth quarter valued at about $968,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of GAP by 266.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 35,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.81% of the company’s stock.

About GAP

The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include adult apparel and accessories; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls.