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

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,207 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,658 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $10,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ANF. Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $76.65 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12 month low of $74.31 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.48. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.