Insider Selling: Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Major Shareholder Sells $1,207,000.00 in Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) major shareholder Margaret Haas sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $1,207,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

LEVI stock opened at $24.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.75% and a net margin of 6.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were given a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 54.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 123,970.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,163,649 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $58,496,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,203 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $19,779,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 65.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,110,200 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $48,488,000 after buying an additional 1,226,205 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 83.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,958,271 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $36,208,000 after buying an additional 890,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hook Mill Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.