California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,462 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 10,890 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $13,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 91.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter valued at $1,744,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,478 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 3rd quarter worth $548,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE ANF opened at $73.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.40. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $66.51 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released 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 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 analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.