Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $364,000 Stock Holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,675 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LYG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,914 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,226,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,426,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,600,000 after buying an additional 13,500 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,372,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,454,000 after buying an additional 411,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,482,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after acquiring an additional 394,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 7.8 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.39 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.08. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $3.91. The company has a market capitalization of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. Equities analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.1035 dividend. This is a boost 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 60.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.