KBC Group NV Purchases 9,954 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 778.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,232 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,954 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at $14,697,070. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741 in the last three months. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ANF shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 2.6 %

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $119.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.52. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a twelve month low of $101.14 and a twelve month high of $196.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.94.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.