Putnam Investments LLC Buys 443,701 Shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,195,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 443,701 shares during the quarter. Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group were worth $406,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PNC. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 12.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,977,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 68.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 9.1% during the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 137.9% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 21,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 12,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $150.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $186.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.94.

The PNC Financial Services Group Price Performance

NYSE PNC opened at $125.77 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.16. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.31 and a 52-week high of $170.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.15.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.05. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The PNC Financial Services Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. This is a boost from The PNC Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.49%.

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 certificates of 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.