Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $3.46 Million Holdings in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its position in shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 25.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 75,720 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,313 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $3,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $487,401,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 203.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625,847 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 811.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 1.3% during 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 period. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Truist Financial Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:TFC opened at $46.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 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 $50.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial announced that its board has initiated 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 repurchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 54.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays lowered Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Truist Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

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.