Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Abercrombie & Fitch Put Options (NYSE:ANF)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 23,803 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 96% compared to the average daily volume of 12,120 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ANF shares. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $221,910,000 after acquiring an additional 892,492 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $183,829,000 after acquiring an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $155,116,000 after purchasing an additional 115,758 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

NYSE:ANF traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.28. 1,585,711 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,973,673. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.99. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $196.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.