Wright Investors Service Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,138 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $2,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 893,808 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 7.0% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 860,489 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,219,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,146,000 after purchasing an additional 171,876 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,164,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $634,024,000 after purchasing an additional 484,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,702,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,267,000 after purchasing an additional 93,636 shares during the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The PNC Financial Services Group

In other news, EVP Michael J. Hannon sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $446,460.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PNC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.63.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PNC traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $148.59. 247,531 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,129,952. The firm has a market cap of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.18. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.40 and a twelve month high of $162.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The business’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is 52.06%.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

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.