Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,976 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $2,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter valued at $438,000. BML Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 15,700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE ANF opened at $115.18 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.22 and a 200 day moving average of $97.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $21.74 and a 1 year high of $140.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 38.80% and a net margin of 7.67%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In related news, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 120,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.15, for a total value of $15,138,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,939.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Jay Rust sold 786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.41, for a total transaction of $98,572.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,014 shares in the company, valued at $127,165.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 120,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.15, for a total transaction of $15,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,939.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 558,786 shares of company stock valued at $64,340,812. Corporate insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $97.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.71.

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.