Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,925 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 20,833 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFC. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 71.5% during the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the third quarter worth $28,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Truist Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Truist Financial by 1,189.5% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 631.6% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TFC shares. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Argus increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 10,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at $35,010.83. This represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,660 shares of company stock worth $1,075,087. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Truist Financial stock opened at $51.86 on Monday. Truist Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.56 and a 12-month high of $56.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $66.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.03.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.09). Truist Financial had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.59%.

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

About Truist Financial

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.