Morgan Stanley Lowers Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Price Target to $62.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Truist to $62.00 (from $63.00) while keeping an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 21% upside from the stock's current level.
• The sell-side consensus is a "Moderate Buy" (11 Buys, 4 Holds, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $54.85, notably below Morgan Stanley's projection.
• Truist recently beat estimates with Q EPS of $1.09 vs. $1.00 and revenue of $5.20B vs. $5.18B, while insiders (including the CAO and CFO) reduced holdings and institutional investors own about 71% of the stock.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $63.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.34% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on TFC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered Truist Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.85.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:TFC traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $51.09. 1,139,186 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,882,063. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Truist Financial has a 52 week low of $35.00 and a 52 week high of $56.19. The firm has a market cap of $63.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Truist Financial had a net margin of 18.14% and a return on equity of 9.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Truist Financial news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total value of $183,715.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Truist Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TFC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 148.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 23,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 14,093 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 39.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 111,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,575,000 after buying an additional 31,454 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $575,000. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 26,192 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 6,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Truist Financial Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.