Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,290,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 437,455 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.42% of Ally Financial worth $46,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALLY. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point raised Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $43.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.41.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 202,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,002,235.25. This represents a 10.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael George Rhodes bought 25,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.09 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,033.06. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,033.06. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY opened at $31.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. Ally Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.52 and a 52 week high of $45.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.15%.

Ally Financial Profile

Ally Financial Inc, a digital financial-services company, provides various digital financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The company operates through Automotive Finance Operations, Insurance Operations, Mortgage Finance Operations, and Corporate Finance Operations segments.