Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 87.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,818 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $1,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 292.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 8,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,656 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 362,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,711,000 after buying an additional 97,893 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,982.09. This represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $114.94 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.34. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $104.34 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.49.

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

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.