Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,114,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,104,353 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.07% of Lloyds Banking Group worth $30,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,420 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 38,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 109,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 3,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brio Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 16,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $4.00 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $2.56 and a 12-month high of $4.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LYG shares. HSBC upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.