Marshall Wace LLP Sells 114,926 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,924,823 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 114,926 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.74% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $50,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $24,512,000 after buying an additional 20,870 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 166,736 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 16,785 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 3.6 %

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $14.62 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.43%.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

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.