Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,338 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $6,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ANF. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after buying an additional 19,222 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 8.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 112,381 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,061 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 115.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 25,483 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 13,677 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 37.0% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 362,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,711,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,027,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

ANF stock opened at $154.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.01. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $86.91 and a 52-week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,982.09. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741. 2.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted 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, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. Citigroup raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Four 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.50.

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.