Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 26,845 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 96.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,807 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,845 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $8,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 41.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,478 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $548,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 214.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 12,971 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after buying an additional 8,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $171,815,000 after buying an additional 63,157 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

NYSE ANF opened at $73.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.22. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.40 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.