Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.49 Million Stake in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 23.3% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in The PNC Financial Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,548,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,792,000 after purchasing an additional 6,657 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group during the fourth quarter worth about $23,578,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 83.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $152.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on The PNC Financial Services Group from $155.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on The PNC Financial Services Group from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised The PNC Financial Services Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The PNC Financial Services Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.02.

Insider Activity

In other The PNC Financial Services Group news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.08, for a total transaction of $98,124.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 567,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,900,760.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.08, for a total value of $98,124.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 567,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,900,760.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 1,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.50, for a total transaction of $208,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 563,395 shares in the company, valued at $94,368,662.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,021 shares of company stock worth $4,190,611 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of PNC traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,978,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,691. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.40 and a 1-year high of $185.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.30. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from The PNC Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.74%.

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.