Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $46,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALLY. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Ally Financial by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Ally Financial by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Price Performance

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

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

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ally Financial

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALLY shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Ally Financial from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.41.

Ally Financial Company 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.