Merit Financial Group LLC Has $75,000 Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 70.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,057 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $75,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LYG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713,559 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,620,000 after purchasing an additional 453,326 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,039 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,611,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,984,000 after buying an additional 604,924 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. HSBC raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $4.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.43. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $2.56 and a twelve month high of $4.30.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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.