Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Position in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 266.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,903 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $3,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $212.50 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin Pfinsgraff bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $158.22 per share, with a total value of $158,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,863.98. The trade was a 99.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 1,242 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.14, for a total transaction of $222,491.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 556,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,623,515.94. This trade represents a 0.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,638 shares of company stock valued at $3,012,095. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

The PNC Financial Services Group Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of PNC opened at $172.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.97. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.12 and a 1-year high of $216.26. The stock has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 17.10% and a return on equity of 11.12%. Equities analysts forecast that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.20%.

The PNC Financial Services Group Company 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.