AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 1,300,070 Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Company $ANF

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 198.2% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 4.11% of the company, valued at $144.6 million.
• In a related development, insider selling was reported with Director James A. Goldman reducing his ownership by 40.14%, selling shares at an average price of $96.18.
• Abercrombie & Fitch reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a quarterly revenue increase of 6.6% year-over-year.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 198.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,955,927 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,300,070 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 4.11% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $144,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 197.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,647 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 9,719 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,013 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 1st quarter valued at about $144,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 99.3% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,114 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jay Rust sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.15, for a total value of $139,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,261.20. This trade represents a 18.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James A. Goldman sold 5,072 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $487,824.96. Following the sale, the director owned 7,565 shares in the company, valued at $727,601.70. The trade was a 40.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ANF. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays set a $84.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $105.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $95.48. 1,574,126 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,431,303. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.46 and a 200 day moving average of $84.13. Abercrombie & Fitch Company has a 52-week low of $65.40 and a 52-week high of $167.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The apparel retailer reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 40.02% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. Abercrombie & Fitch has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.000-10.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Company will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch Profile

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.