Janney Capital Management LLC Sells 1,511,711 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG)

Janney Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 32.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,174,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,511,711 shares during the quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $12,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,440,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.8%

LYG traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.10. 14,628,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,329,257. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a one year low of $2.56 and a one year high of $4.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $4.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.49.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

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.