AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 63,734 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 388.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,126 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 63,734 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $205,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 840,251 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $33,907,000 after acquiring an additional 579,460 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $16,383,000 after acquiring an additional 152,590 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $2,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LEVI. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $15.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,664,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,125. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $15.51 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.10.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.