Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James cut their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded down $2.83 on Friday, hitting $100.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,907,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,118,949. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.83. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 1 year low of $99.51 and a 1 year high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In related news, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,982.09. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,024,800. The trade was a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $860,303,000 after purchasing an additional 53,999 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after buying an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,829,000 after buying an additional 212,155 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $171,815,000 after buying an additional 63,157 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $155,116,000 after acquiring an additional 115,758 shares in the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company 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.