Oxford Asset Management LLP Acquires Shares of 35,462 Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,462 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 166,736 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $3,635,000 after buying an additional 16,785 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $26,816,000 after buying an additional 20,426 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $15.80. 1,611,730 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,150,318. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.99. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.18.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.