Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Trims Stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc $PNC

Key Points

• Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan cut its PNC stake by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,220 shares and ending with 41,354 shares worth about $8.63 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on PNC, with recent buy/overweight ratings and raised price targets; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target of $243.11.
• PNC reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $4.32 EPS versus the $3.92 estimate, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, equal to a 3.2% yield.

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan reduced its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,220 shares during the quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan's holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $8,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 78,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,497,000 after buying an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 80,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,743,000 after buying an additional 2,921 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 12,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,648,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,554,000 after buying an additional 20,347 shares in the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The PNC Financial Services Group

In related news, EVP Louis Robert Cestello sold 4,279 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.01, for a total transaction of $1,001,328.79. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,066.67. The trade was a 18.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.88, for a total value of $11,544,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 554,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $127,970,781.12. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 64,186 shares of company stock valued at $14,840,973 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $237.50 to $238.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $252.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on The PNC Financial Services Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.11.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Down 0.1%

PNC stock opened at $213.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc has a 52 week low of $169.32 and a 52 week high of $243.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.57.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.40. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc will post 18.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 14th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 14th. The PNC Financial Services Group's payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

The PNC Financial Services Group Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.