Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Shares Sold by Man Group plc

Man Group plc cut its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,571 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 87,057 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $55,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $860,303,000 after purchasing an additional 53,999 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $221,910,000 after acquiring an additional 892,492 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after acquiring an additional 212,155 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $155,116,000 after acquiring an additional 115,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 745,723 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $111,463,000 after acquiring an additional 147,779 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ANF opened at $80.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 1.47. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $65.40 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.61.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays started coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Monday, April 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $114.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.63.

Abercrombie & Fitch Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. The firm operates through following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment includes operations in North America and South America. The EMEA segment includes operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.