Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 123,994 Shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,286,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,994 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 2.59% of The PNC Financial Services Group worth $1,939,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNC. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 45.6% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,185,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in The PNC Financial Services Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,548,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group during the second quarter valued at about $822,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the third quarter worth about $839,000. 83.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The PNC Financial Services Group Price Performance

Shares of PNC stock opened at $202.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a one year low of $139.69 and a one year high of $216.26. The company has a market capitalization of $80.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.19. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The PNC Financial Services Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 13.45 EPS for the current year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 16th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $209.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on The PNC Financial Services Group from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martin Pfinsgraff sold 859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.12, for a total transaction of $159,877.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,299.80. This trade represents a 48.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 1,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.35, for a total transaction of $225,236.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 548,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,468,842.85. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,030 shares of company stock worth $5,873,691 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

The PNC Financial Services Group 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.