Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Sells 298,754 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 35.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 298,754 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 23.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 992,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,791,000 after buying an additional 190,586 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,083,000 after acquiring an additional 863,347 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 59,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.4% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 691,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 65,225 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LYG opened at $4.85 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a one year low of $2.56 and a one year high of $4.86.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $6.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 18.04%. On average, analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LYG shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.