Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 209,887 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $31,371,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.42% of Abercrombie & Fitch as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $142,379,000 after acquiring an additional 204,901 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,143 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $121,733,000 after acquiring an additional 60,022 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 701,798 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $104,898,000 after acquiring an additional 131,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 533,853 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $79,795,000 after acquiring an additional 4,019 shares in the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ANF opened at $75.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12 month low of $74.31 and a 12 month high of $196.99.

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Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.88.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.

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