AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Trims Holdings in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Truist Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $487,401,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Truist Financial by 203.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625,847 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,280,653 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake 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 valued at $86,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,529,478 shares during the period. 71.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Truist Financial stock opened at $51.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.32. Truist Financial Corporation has a one year low of $33.56 and a one year high of $51.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $239,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group set a $55.00 price objective on Truist Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.20.

Truist Financial 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.