Jennison Associates LLC Buys 2,625,847 Shares of Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 203.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,625,847 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $179,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 95,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,381,000 after purchasing an additional 13,081 shares during the last quarter. Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Truist Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Truist Financial by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,494 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Truist Financial by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 11,623 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Facet Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus lifted their price target on Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Truist Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $239,682.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,606.85. This represents a 33.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Truist Financial Trading Down 1.5%

TFC opened at $49.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.17. Truist Financial Corporation has a one year low of $33.56 and a one year high of $51.51. The stock has a market cap of $63.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Truist Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 55.91%.

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

Truist Financial 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.