Eagle Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,690 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 17,949 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.23% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $16,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 19,222 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 112,381 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,986,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 362,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,711,000 after buying an additional 97,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,648 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,097,000 after buying an additional 32,915 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,627,594. This trade represents a 7.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total value of $2,501,225.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,676,109.60. The trade was a 40.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,541 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,256 in the last three months. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $147.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of ANF opened at $152.00 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $72.13 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.96.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.36. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 47.35% and a net margin of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.