Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Purchased by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 196,270 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.31% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $20,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $270,000. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 19,900 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,297 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 35,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $708,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 179,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,588,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 35,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $708,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 179,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,588,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $461,050.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 830,719 shares of company stock worth $18,426,020. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LEVI stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $23.15. The company had a trading volume of 6,677,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,339,376. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.54 and its 200 day moving average is $19.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.41 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 74.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.19.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 154.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LEVI. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. OTR Global began coverage on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They set a "positive" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.56.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

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.