Norges Bank Takes $88.48 Million Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 591,946 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $88,478,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $83.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $73.39 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.