Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $6.53 Million Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,674 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $6,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,818 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 24,669 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 158,554 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $23,699,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth about $12,406,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,827 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 11,208 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $114.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of ANF stock traded down $2.54 on Wednesday, hitting $74.11. The stock had a trading volume of 568,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,674. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a twelve month low of $65.40 and a twelve month high of $196.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 1.47.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. The firm operates through following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment includes operations in North America and South America. The EMEA segment includes operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.