Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc decreased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,318 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 11,568 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $5,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

ANF opened at $75.94 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.89. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $74.31 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ANF shares. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.88.

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.