Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,976 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 774 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $2,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, BML Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter worth $79,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $115.18 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.09. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52 week low of $21.74 and a 52 week high of $140.28. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.14. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 38.80%. The business 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 revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.15, for a total transaction of $15,138,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,208 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,939.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 558,786 shares of company stock worth $64,340,812. 3.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ANF shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Argus lifted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $97.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

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.