Marshall Wace LLP Raises Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 873,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 120,509 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 1.71% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $155,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,435 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,103 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,627,594. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,627,594. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 owns 27,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,676,109.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,541 shares of company stock worth $4,310,256 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANF. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $147.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $167.00 to $194.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $193.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.57.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ANF opened at $140.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.83. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $50.03 and a 12-month high of $196.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 47.35% and a net margin of 10.76%. Equities analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.