Marshall Wace LLP Has $50.60 Million Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,924,823 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 114,926 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.74% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $50,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,079.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,127 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $24,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,748 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $22,700,000 after acquiring an additional 815,950 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 746,017 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $12,906,000 after purchasing an additional 239,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 865,790 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 231,270 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.25% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI traded up $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.78. 612,557 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,148,309. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.11.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is 58.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment 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.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.18.

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.