Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 14,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Urban Outfitters worth $12,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in URBN. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Urban Outfitters by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,288,817 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230,771 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Urban Outfitters during the third quarter valued at about $8,340,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Urban Outfitters in the third quarter valued at about $7,789,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Urban Outfitters in the second quarter worth about $7,238,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Urban Outfitters during the second quarter valued at about $4,710,000. 77.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Urban Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of URBN stock opened at $53.21 on Friday. Urban Outfitters, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.86 and a fifty-two week high of $59.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.98.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Urban Outfitters, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Urban Outfitters news, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.31, for a total value of $3,152,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 510,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,245,063.76. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 31.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Urban Outfitters from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Urban Outfitters from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Urban Outfitters from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Urban Outfitters from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Urban Outfitters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.64.

About Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nuuly. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45.