Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 106,577 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 561.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 125,550 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 106,577 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $17,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ANF. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the second quarter worth $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 242.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $148.59 on Thursday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $74.68 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.58. The company has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.19. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 47.35%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total transaction of $2,501,225.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,676,109.60. The trade was a 40.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,627,594. This trade represents a 7.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,541 shares of company stock worth $4,310,256 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.