Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 253,704 Shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc $PNC

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in PNC by 14.2% in Q4, selling 253,704 shares and now holds 1,531,187 shares (about 0.39%) worth roughly $319.6 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: CEO William S. Demchak sold 50,000 shares for $11.54 million and the EVP sold 4,279 shares, with insiders offloading 64,186 shares worth $14.84 million over the past 90 days (insider ownership ~0.38%).
• Analysts have lifted targets (e.g., Barclays to $277, Oppenheimer to $268) and PNC carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $241.72 target, after reporting a quarterly EPS beat of $4.32 vs $3.92 and revenue up 13.1% year‑over‑year.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,531,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 253,704 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.39% of The PNC Financial Services Group worth $319,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 2,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC raised its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. raised its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 2,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 4,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 2,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis Robert Cestello sold 4,279 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.01, for a total value of $1,001,328.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,066.67. The trade was a 18.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.88, for a total transaction of $11,544,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 554,274 shares in the company, valued at $127,970,781.12. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 64,186 shares of company stock worth $14,840,973 over the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 report on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $263.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $237.50 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $263.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.72.

The PNC Financial Services Group Price Performance

PNC opened at $221.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $89.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $213.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.85. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc has a 1 year low of $163.31 and a 1 year high of $243.94.

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

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 14th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. 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 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PNC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (NYSE:PNC - Free Report).

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.