Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,611,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 604,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $17,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,226,000. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,914 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,703,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,316,000 after acquiring an additional 627,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 3,120.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 640,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 620,325 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE LYG traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $3.67. 40,227,216 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,492,599. The stock has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $2.42 and a 12-month high of $3.91. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $3.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.08.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. HSBC upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.