Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stock Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,591,621 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 84,668 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.66% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $143,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $82,409,000 after purchasing an additional 756,926 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $37,079,000 after buying an additional 1,835,107 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% during the 3rd 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 worth $33,907,000 after acquiring an additional 579,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,365,574 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE LEVI traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, reaching $17.43. 1,312,373 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,229,867. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.41. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.87 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 136.84%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 108,344 shares in the company, valued at $1,950,192. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

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.