Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $69.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $56.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TFC. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays lowered Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Truist Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.47.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Truist Financial stock opened at $51.86 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Truist Financial has a 12 month low of $33.56 and a 12 month high of $56.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 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 the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Truist Financial news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total value of $183,715.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,010.83. The trade was a 83.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,660 shares of company stock valued at $1,075,087. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Truist Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TFC. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Truist Financial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 14,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,205 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in Truist Financial by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 3,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Truist Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,667 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.