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

Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GAP) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.07.

GAP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of GAP in a research report on Friday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of GAP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of GAP in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of GAP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th.

GAP Price Performance

GAP stock opened at $22.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 2.05. GAP has a 12 month low of $18.11 and a 12 month high of $29.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.18.

GAP (NYSE:GAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. GAP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.450 EPS. Analysts expect that GAP will post 2.40 EPS for the current year.

GAP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. GAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.90%.

Insider Activity at GAP

In related news, Director William Fisher sold 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.89, for a total transaction of $11,945,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,903,198 shares in the company, valued at $379,927,400.22. The trade was a 3.05% 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 Julie Gruber sold 27,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.56, for a total transaction of $648,795.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $727,438.56. This represents a 47.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,027,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,249,556. Insiders own 31.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GAP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GAP. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of GAP during the second quarter worth about $2,017,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GAP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $428,824,000. Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of GAP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,312,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of GAP in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,216,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of GAP in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,345,000. 58.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.