Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Holdings Decreased by Ellevest Inc.

Ellevest Inc. reduced its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 233,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,916 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,620,000 after buying an additional 453,326 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,039 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,611,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,984,000 after acquiring an additional 604,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,601,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,236,000 after acquiring an additional 150,178 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on LYG shares. StockNews.com lowered Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.88 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.56 and a 1-year high of $4.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.97.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.1035 dividend. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers.