Highland Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC)

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 693 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $8,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. 71.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upgraded Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Truist Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Truist Financial from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Truist Financial from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Truist Financial news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 3,764 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.48, for a total value of $141,074.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,627.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Truist Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TFC opened at $38.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Truist Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $38.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.36 and its 200 day moving average is $33.39.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Truist Financial had a positive return on equity of 9.64% and a negative net margin of 3.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Truist Financial Co. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -192.59%.

About Truist Financial

Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings. Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.