Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 87.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,818 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANF. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.2% in the third 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 period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Abercrombie & Fitch stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $110.31. 1,512,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,191,096. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12 month low of $106.10 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $136.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.30. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741. Corporate insiders own 2.58% of the company's stock.

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.