193,980 Shares in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Purchased by Boston Partners

Boston Partners purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 193,980 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $28,327,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,831 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 9,047 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 3.3 %

ANF stock opened at $82.31 on Thursday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $74.31 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.38.

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

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ANF shares. StockNews.com cut Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.