Francis Financial Inc. Reduces Stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Francis Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Francis Financial Inc.’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PNC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 88.6% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 6,678 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 25.8% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 12.5% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 9,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,271,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on PNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on The PNC Financial Services Group from $163.50 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. HSBC upgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $141.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.19, for a total transaction of $98,194.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 568,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,061,400.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Richard Kevin Bynum sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.87, for a total value of $132,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,856.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.19, for a total transaction of $98,194.79. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 568,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,061,400.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The PNC Financial Services Group Price Performance

The PNC Financial Services Group stock opened at $155.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.40 and a 52 week high of $162.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 11.64% and a net margin of 16.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 12.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.06%.

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.