Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Sells 18,578 Shares of Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lessened its stake in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 77.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 18,578 shares during the period. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Truist Financial were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in Truist Financial by 71.5% in the second quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 1,189.5% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 631.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TFC shares. Robert W. Baird lowered Truist Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Truist Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

Truist Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE TFC opened at $49.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, 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. Truist Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.56 and a 12-month high of $56.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.64.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 9.03%. Truist Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.59%.

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

Insider Transactions at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.