Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lessened its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 48.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,403 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 202,744 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.05% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $4,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $205,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $37,079,000 after buying an additional 1,835,107 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $27,600,000 after buying an additional 1,365,574 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $24,001,000 after buying an additional 1,226,818 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $82,409,000 after acquiring an additional 756,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $149,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,950,192. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of LEVI traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.39. 2,345,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,982. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $17.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.18. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $14.87 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.75.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.