Abercrombie & Fitch Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ANF)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 17,959 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 74% compared to the average daily volume of 10,350 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ANF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. The trade was a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total value of $1,292,471.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at $14,697,070. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after buying an additional 19,222 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 8.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 112,381 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,061 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 115.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 25,483 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 13,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,756 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:ANF traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,940,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,440. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.19 and a 200-day moving average of $148.74. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $95.51 and a 52-week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company 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.