Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stock Holdings in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,285 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,589 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $14,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $487,401,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 203.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,176,000 after buying an additional 2,625,847 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Truist Financial by 4,121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,335,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,424,000 after buying an additional 2,280,653 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Truist Financial by 811.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,018,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $86,773,000 after buying an additional 1,796,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Truist Financial by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,440,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $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.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TFC opened at $49.26 on Monday. Truist Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.56 and a 12-month high of $56.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.21 and a 200 day moving average of $47.58.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 54.59%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TFC shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays cut Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Truist Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $35,010.83. This represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.