Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 355.9% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 195,866 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152,907 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter worth about $777,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 153,229 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,638,000 after purchasing an additional 43,310 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter valued at about $598,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter worth about $782,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $122.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $123.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.19. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $21.74 and a twelve month high of $140.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the company’s 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 $58,127,767.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.95, for a total transaction of $4,478,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,558 shares in the company, valued at $11,330,996.10. 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 corporate insiders.

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.