Towne Trust Company N.A Decreases Stock Position in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Key Points

• Towne Trust Company N.A. cut its stake in Truist Financial (TFC) by 15.9% in Q4 to 122,312 shares valued at about $6.02M, making TFC ~1.9% of Towne Trust's holdings and its 17th largest position.
• Company insiders have been selling recently: CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares and CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares, leaving insiders with just 0.15% ownership.
• Truist missed Q4 expectations with EPS $1.00 vs. $1.09 and revenue below estimates, yet analysts hold a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average target of $54.41, and the stock carries a 4.2% dividend yield.

Towne Trust Company N.A lowered its position in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC - Free Report) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 23,088 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial accounts for approximately 1.9% of Towne Trust Company N.A's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Towne Trust Company N.A's holdings in Truist Financial were worth $6,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Truist Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Maseco LLP lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Maseco LLP now owns 652 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 259.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 693 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 631.6% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Truist Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the business's 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 $35,010.83. The trade was a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TFC. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus boosted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Truist Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.41.

Truist Financial Stock Up 0.2%

TFC stock opened at $49.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Truist Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $56.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.81. The firm has a market cap of $61.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. 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 presently 54.59%.

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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