AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Decreases Stake in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd cut its stake in shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 61,472 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $5,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Truist Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $487,401,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 203.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625,847 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 4,121.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,335,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,280,653 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 811.0% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,018,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,884 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Truist Financial by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,440,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,177,722,000 after buying an additional 1,529,478 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Truist Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays downgraded Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total transaction of $239,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,606.85. This represents a 33.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Truist Financial Price Performance

NYSE:TFC opened at $51.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Truist Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.56 and a 52 week high of $51.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.59%.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Truist Financial Company Profile

Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company that provides a broad range of financial services through its primary subsidiary, Truist Bank, and other operating units. The company offers traditional retail banking products and services such as deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, and credit and debit card services. Truist also serves commercial clients with middle-market and corporate lending, treasury and payment solutions, and specialty finance products.

Beyond core banking, Truist operates wealth management, asset management, insurance and capital markets businesses.