North Growth Management Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

North Growth Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Abercrombie & Fitch makes up 2.3% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $11,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 6.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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 represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $880,070.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,982.09. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE:ANF opened at $114.94 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.49. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $104.34 and a 1-year high of $196.99.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research 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 company presently 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.