Empire Life Investments Inc. Raises Holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc $PNC

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments increased its PNC stake by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,418 more shares and bringing its total to 217,119 shares worth about $45.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains favorable, with multiple analysts lifting price targets; PNC currently carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.11.
• PNC reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $4.32 per share and posting 13.1% year-over-year revenue growth, while also maintaining a 3.2% dividend yield.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 217,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,418 shares during the period. The PNC Financial Services Group comprises about 2.6% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc. owned 0.06% of The PNC Financial Services Group worth $45,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,873,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,114,168,000 after acquiring an additional 408,464 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,242,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,464,462,000 after purchasing an additional 85,291 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,835,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,177,318,000 after purchasing an additional 609,755 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 234.9% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 7,956,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,598,753,000 after purchasing an additional 5,581,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in The PNC Financial Services Group by 32.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,425,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $889,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,941 shares in the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PNC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $263.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on The PNC Financial Services Group from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on The PNC Financial Services Group from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $263.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $234.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "hold" 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.11.

Insider Activity at The PNC Financial Services Group

In other The PNC Financial Services Group news, EVP Richard Kevin Bynum sold 7,407 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.98, for a total transaction of $1,710,868.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,942 shares in the company, valued at $448,563.16. This trade represents a 79.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,001,328.79. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,066.67. This represents a 18.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,186 shares of company stock worth $14,840,973. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Up 0.4%

PNC stock opened at $215.39 on Wednesday. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc has a 1-year low of $169.32 and a 1-year high of $243.94. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $213.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $86.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.94.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc will post 18.93 EPS for the current year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 14th. The PNC Financial Services Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.51%.

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.

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