O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 516,922 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,370,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 516,922 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $11,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $11,226,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $60,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,263 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,440,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on LYG shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 7.8 %

Shares of LYG traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.39. 36,345,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,664,159. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $3.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.08. The company has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

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.