Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,426,705 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 210,774 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.36% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $24,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its position 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% in 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 valued at $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 579,460 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $24,512,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $16.42 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $15.62 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.15. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. Sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.