Investors Buy Large Volume of Abercrombie & Fitch Put Options (NYSE:ANF)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 17,959 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 74% compared to the typical volume of 10,350 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ANF. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.25.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $880,070.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,275,982.09. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741 in the last 90 days. 2.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 6.5% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE ANF traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $130.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,940,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,440. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 1-year low of $95.51 and a 1-year high of $196.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $147.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.52.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.