Blueshift Asset Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 68.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,014 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 12,804 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $171,815,000 after purchasing an additional 63,157 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $142,379,000 after purchasing an additional 204,901 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,143 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $121,733,000 after purchasing an additional 60,022 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 701,798 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $104,898,000 after purchasing an additional 131,970 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 616,228 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $92,108,000 after purchasing an additional 9,248 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ANF shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of ANF opened at $82.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $74.31 and a 1-year high of $196.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.38.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.