Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 817,310 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 52,833 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.62% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $122,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,818 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 24,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 19,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 158,554 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $23,699,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.75.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

ANF opened at $86.16 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12 month low of $79.77 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during 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%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.