Investors Purchase High Volume of Abercrombie & Fitch Put Options (NYSE:ANF)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 17,959 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 74% compared to the average daily volume of 10,350 put options.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $128.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.52. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $95.51 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.26.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.25.

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.