GAP (NYSE:GAP) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its GAP price target from $23 to $22 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, implying about 4% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mixed, though the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $27.
• GAP beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.52 versus $0.48 forecast, but revenue fell 2% year over year and missed estimates.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.04% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised GAP from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on GAP from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. TD Cowen upped their price target on GAP from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on GAP from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered GAP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.00.

GAP Price Performance

NYSE GAP traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $21.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,752,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,398,811. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.94. GAP has a 52 week low of $18.11 and a 52 week high of $29.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

GAP (NYSE:GAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.69 billion. GAP had a net margin of 8.14% and a return on equity of 19.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. GAP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that GAP will post 2.40 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GAP news, Director William Fisher sold 500,000 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.89, for a total value of $11,945,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,903,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,927,400.22. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 27,538 shares of GAP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.56, for a total value of $648,795.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $727,438.56. The trade was a 47.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,027,538 shares of company stock worth $24,249,556. 31.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of GAP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GAP. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in GAP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $428,824,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of GAP by 48.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,271,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,712 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 23.1% in the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,998,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,652,000 after purchasing an additional 374,739 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of GAP in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,345,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of GAP by 26.4% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 738,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,861,000 after purchasing an additional 154,129 shares in the last quarter. 58.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GAP

Gap Inc. is an American specialty retailer of apparel, accessories and related products. Its portfolio includes Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta, with merchandise sold through company-operated stores and online channels. Founded in San Francisco in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher, the company serves customers in North America and other markets through its stores, e-commerce operations and franchise partners. Richard Dickson became Gap Inc.'s president and chief executive officer in 2023.

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