Ritholtz Wealth Management Trims Stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,186,344 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 61,376 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $4,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $19,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,914,680 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $42,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,440,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LYG. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 1.1%

Lloyds Banking Group stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.18. 17,739,148 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,198,538. The company has a market cap of $62.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.43. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $2.56 and a 12-month high of $4.30.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.