BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,182 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,154 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.09% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $6,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter worth about $73,048,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 146.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 863,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $153,494,000 after acquiring an additional 512,700 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2,036.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 419,560 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $74,615,000 after purchasing an additional 399,922 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 283.0% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 303,896 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $54,045,000 after purchasing an additional 224,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 293.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 286,434 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $51,043,000 after purchasing an additional 213,684 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup raised Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 5.1 %

ANF opened at $157.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 1.50. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $75.69 and a 12-month high of $196.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.87.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total transaction of $2,501,225.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,676,109.60. This represents a 40.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 37,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,222,568.60. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.