MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,170 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,150 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $8,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ANF. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the third quarter worth approximately $548,000. Invst LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 22.6% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 22.8% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 47.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,757 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,338 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $6,762,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ANF stock traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,532,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,992,993. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.32 and its 200-day moving average is $119.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.41. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $65.40 and a 1-year high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ANF shares. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Monday, April 21st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $71.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.25.

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.