Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 212,155 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 2.44% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $183,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $860,303,000 after purchasing an additional 53,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 63,157 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% during 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 680,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $101,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 616,228 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $92,108,000 after acquiring an additional 9,248 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of ANF stock opened at $83.19 on Thursday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $73.39 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.81 and its 200-day moving average is $128.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ANF shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.