Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $141.57, but opened at $148.96. Abercrombie & Fitch shares last traded at $149.59, with a volume of 721,470 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $147.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 7.4 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at $15,627,594. This trade represents a 7.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total transaction of $487,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,222,568.60. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,541 shares of company stock worth $4,310,256 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the second quarter worth $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 242.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter.

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.