Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 23,953 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,197,937 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 23,953 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.38% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $179,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANF. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 91.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,744,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,478 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter worth $548,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ANF. UBS Group lowered their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE ANF opened at $73.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.41. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $66.51 and a 1-year high of $196.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.34.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically 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.