Exane Derivatives trimmed its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI – Get Rating) by 79.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,826 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 7,246 shares during the period. Exane Derivatives' holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEVI. Diligent Investors LLC raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,810 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,691 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 10.3% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,888 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,852 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.81% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $17.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.28. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $28.62.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 1st were given a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 29th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, EVP Seth Jaffe sold 11,948 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total value of $196,425.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 148,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,438,035.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEVI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Friday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

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Levi Strauss & Co operates as an apparel company. The company designs, markets, and sells jeans, casual and dress pants, activewear, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jackets, footwear, and related accessories for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It also sells its products under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, and Denizen brands.

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