Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 328.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 242.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.14.

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In related news, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 owns 37,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,222,568.60. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,676,109.60. This trade represents a 40.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

NYSE:ANF opened at $149.69 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52 week low of $75.18 and a 52 week high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.98 and a 200-day moving average of $153.63.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.49 EPS for the current 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.