Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc $PNC

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC) by 17.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 817,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,926 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $170,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 9.1% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 5,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 168,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,144,000 after buying an additional 12,540 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 176,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,779,000 after buying an additional 15,567 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 6.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $267.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $238.00 to $264.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.09.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Up 0.4%

PNC traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $251.99. 2,892,810 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,235,505. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.05. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc has a 12-month low of $176.88 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.21 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc will post 18.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $2.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The PNC Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Duane Thomas sold 1,500 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.14, for a total value of $357,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,750.26. The trade was a 22.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Andrew T. Feldstein sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.57, for a total transaction of $9,925,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,370,906.93. The trade was a 80.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,694,574. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offering a broad range of banking, lending, investment and wealth management services. PNC operates a national banking franchise with a significant retail branch network and dedicated capabilities for commercial, institutional and government clients. Its services are designed to serve individuals, small businesses, corporations and public sector entities across the United States.

PNC’s core business activities include consumer and business banking, residential mortgage lending, corporate and institutional banking, asset management and wealth advisory services.