XTX Topco Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

XTX Topco Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 42.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 168,606 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LYG. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 3,420 shares in the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 16,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 20,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 4,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 60,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE LYG opened at $3.77 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1 year low of $2.49 and a 1 year high of $3.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.12. The company has a market cap of $57.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LYG shares. HSBC raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2.75.

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.