Ballentine Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,919 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,252,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,154,000 after buying an additional 2,472,263 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,778,000 after buying an additional 2,456,914 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 37.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,416,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,659,000 after acquiring an additional 929,478 shares during the period. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter valued at about $2,059,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LYG. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a one year low of $2.00 and a one year high of $3.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.