Francis Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,526 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Francis Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $735,469,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 122,771.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,540,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $401,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538,916 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,685,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,055 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,326,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,758,880,000 after acquiring an additional 893,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,070,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,064,357,000 after acquiring an additional 860,489 shares in the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other The PNC Financial Services Group news, EVP Michael J. Hannon sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $446,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,442,347.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock opened at $161.63 on Friday. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $162.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.25. The firm has a market cap of $64.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $1.04. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 17.50%. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 12.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 16th were paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 12th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on The PNC Financial Services Group from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $142.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.87.

The PNC Financial Services Group Profile

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services.