BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 53,380 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in BCE were worth $1,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in BCE by 130.1% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,200,000 after buying an additional 165,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,660,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,177,152. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.67. The company has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 195.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $36.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. Equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.