Highland Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,394 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,034 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.4% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 107,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,036,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.1% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,255 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.24, for a total transaction of $4,812,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 116,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,258,828.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.24, for a total value of $4,812,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 116,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,258,828.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $7,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 148,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,291,681.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 288,786 shares of company stock worth $32,608,812. 3.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $121.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.17 and its 200 day moving average is $87.88. 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 one year low of $21.74 and a one year high of $140.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.14. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 38.80%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Hollister and Abercrombie. It offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Hollister, Gilly Hicks, Social Tourist, Abercrombie & Fitch, and abercrombie kids brands.