Arbor Investment Advisors LLC Sells 77,017 Shares of Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Key Points

• Arbor Investment Advisors cut its Truist stake by 93.1% in Q4, selling 77,017 shares and leaving the firm with 5,701 shares valued at about $281,000.
• Truist has authorized a $10.0 billion stock repurchase plan (up to 15.7% of outstanding shares) and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.52, implying a 4.2% yield.
• Company insiders have been selling recently: CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares and CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares, with insiders now owning about 0.15% of the stock.

Arbor Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC - Free Report) by 93.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,701 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 77,017 shares during the period. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Truist Financial were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Truist Financial by 9.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 329,093 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 29,191 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 10.3% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,591,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $209,936,000 after acquiring an additional 427,067 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Truist Financial by 12.3% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 336,095 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $15,366,000 after acquiring an additional 36,916 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Truist Financial by 18.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 169,030 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,728,000 after acquiring an additional 26,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Truist Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 421,809 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,285,000 after acquiring an additional 10,706 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on TFC shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Truist Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $57.00 to $51.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Truist Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In related news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were 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 $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of Truist Financial 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 owned 667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TFC stock opened at $49.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.91 and a 200 day moving average of $47.74. Truist Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.52 and a 52 week high of $56.19. 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 (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) 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). 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 business's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.

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