The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.6%, selling 10,093 shares, and now holds approximately 381,116 shares valued at about $66.99 million.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings and price targets for PNC, with Oppenheimer setting a target price of $238.00 and Citigroup increasing theirs to $217.00, indicating strong market confidence in the stock.
• PNC recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $6.80 and a yield of 3.5%, an increase from the previous $1.60 payout.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 381,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,093 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of The PNC Financial Services Group worth $66,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PNC. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 8.4% in the first quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Exane Asset Management lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. Exane Asset Management now owns 149,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,434,000 after purchasing an additional 37,110 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 15.6% in the first quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 72,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,804,000 after purchasing an additional 9,836 shares during the last quarter. United Community Bank lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 687.0% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 12,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 10,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at The PNC Financial Services Group

In other news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 1,242 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.75, for a total transaction of $210,829.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 554,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,190,710.25. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE PNC traded down $3.27 on Friday, hitting $191.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,300,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,907. The business's fifty day moving average price is $188.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc has a 52-week low of $145.12 and a 52-week high of $216.26. The stock has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.29. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 18.33% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This is an increase from The PNC Financial Services Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The PNC Financial Services Group's payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $205.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $238.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.17.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

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.