Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 43,901 Shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC - Free Report) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 43,901 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.07% of The PNC Financial Services Group worth $56,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PNC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,275,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $420,621,000 after buying an additional 22,271 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $481,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 34,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,367,000 after buying an additional 15,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 14,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,631,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 1,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.45, for a total value of $239,022.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 571,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $109,893,761.25. This represents a 0.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 13,061 shares of company stock valued at $2,274,222 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PNC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $180.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded The PNC Financial Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. HSBC upgraded The PNC Financial Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $257.00 to $235.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $200.88.

The PNC Financial Services Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PNC traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $160.08. 464,613 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,992,967. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.12 and a 1 year high of $216.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $169.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.12.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.04. The PNC Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The PNC Financial Services Group's payout ratio is 45.20%.

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.