Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 25,728 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 37.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,728 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Ally Financial were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 233.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,430,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701,264 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 217.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,283,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,008 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Ally Financial by 584.7% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,395,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,529 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Ally Financial in the third quarter worth $21,571,000. Finally, 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new position in Ally Financial during the third quarter valued at $19,140,000. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company's stock.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

ALLY stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,602,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,839,243. The stock's 50 day moving average is $37.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.70. The firm has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.45. Ally Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.95 and a 52 week high of $45.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial's payout ratio is 46.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Ally Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered Ally Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.76.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other news, CEO Michael George Rhodes bought 25,634 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $1,002,033.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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, for a total transaction of $753,495.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 202,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ally Financial

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.