Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 39,685 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 288,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,685 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the 3rd 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,252,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,894,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,269,000 after acquiring an additional 18,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,416,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,659,000 after buying an additional 929,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on LYG. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $3.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $2.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.91. The company has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1 year low of $2.00 and a 1 year high of $3.24.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.