The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.07.

Several research firms have recently commented on GAP. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of GAP from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of GAP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of GAP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of GAP from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th.

Insider Transactions at GAP

In other news, Director William Sydney Fisher sold 66,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.06, for a total value of $1,529,892.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,336,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,727,853.24. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 31.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GAP. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of GAP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of GAP in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in GAP during the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in GAP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of GAP in the 2nd quarter worth about $129,000. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GAP Stock Performance

NYSE:GAP opened at $22.53 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.11. GAP has a 1 year low of $18.11 and a 1 year high of $29.36.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. GAP had a return on equity of 19.72% and a net margin of 8.14%.The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. GAP’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. GAP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that GAP will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.90%.

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. The Old Navy Global segment offers clothing and accessories for adults and children.