North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 2,000 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

North Growth Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Abercrombie & Fitch accounts for 2.3% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. North Growth Management Ltd. owned 0.16% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $11,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $114.94 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12 month low of $104.34 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $139.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total value of $1,292,471.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 97,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741 in the last three months. 2.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.