Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Grows Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,939 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,462 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $3,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $860,303,000 after buying an additional 53,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $171,815,000 after acquiring an additional 63,157 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $142,379,000 after purchasing an additional 204,901 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 701,798 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $104,898,000 after purchasing an additional 131,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 680,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $101,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $73.39 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.04.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch 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.