Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Position Lessened by Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. decreased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 41.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,144 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,256 shares during the period. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,191,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $348,992,000 after purchasing an additional 146,384 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 12,439.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,271,516 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 101.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,352,169 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $119,288,000 after acquiring an additional 681,375 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 171.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 664,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $37,434,000 after acquiring an additional 419,781 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 491,085 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,682,000 after acquiring an additional 173,225 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of ANF stock traded up $4.82 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.66. 1,034,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,637,779. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a twelve month low of $21.74 and a twelve month high of $140.28. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on 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 owns 88,558 shares in the company, valued at $11,330,996.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 525,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 558,786 shares of company stock worth $64,340,812 in the last three months. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANF has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Argus raised their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $97.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch 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.