Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 69,207 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 3,658 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $10,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $860,303,000 after purchasing an additional 53,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $171,815,000 after purchasing an additional 63,157 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $142,379,000 after buying an additional 204,901 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 701,798 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $104,898,000 after buying an additional 131,970 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 680,930 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $101,779,000 after buying an additional 5,493 shares during the period.

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Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded up $3.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.98. 860,362 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,398,223. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.59. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $73.39 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.88.

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.