Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) Short Interest Up 35.3% in March

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,280,000 shares, a growth of 35.3% from the February 28th total of 6,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 14.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Urban Outfitters

In other Urban Outfitters news, insider Azeez Hayne sold 11,676 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $639,261.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total transaction of $757,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 495,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,012,448. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 99,976 shares of company stock worth $5,573,263. Corporate insiders own 31.80% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 525 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Urban Outfitters by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 759 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,222 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Urban Outfitters by 315.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,699 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Urban Outfitters from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Urban Outfitters from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Urban Outfitters from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Urban Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Urban Outfitters Stock Performance

NASDAQ:URBN traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.07. 1,398,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,785,584. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $54.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.56. Urban Outfitters has a fifty-two week low of $33.86 and a fifty-two week high of $61.16.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel retailer reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.15. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. On average, analysts predict that Urban Outfitters will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nuuly. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45.