Marshall Wace LLP Acquires New Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 532,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,178,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.17% of Ally Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALLY. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Ally Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 50,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 89.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 period. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Trading Up 3.5 %

ALLY stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,602,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,523,676. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.75 and a 200 day moving average of $36.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG 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.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio is 88.24%.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other news, CEO Michael George Rhodes purchased 25,634 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 8,200 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.81 per share, with a total value of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 236,421 shares in the company, valued at $7,284,131.01. This represents a 3.59 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 52,934 shares of company stock valued at $2,008,170 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ALLY shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. For consumer lenders, the Trump Administration’s hardline approach to tariffs is “difficult to ignore” and there’s clearly more downside to the group if tariffs remain near current levels. If tariffs remain in place, risks to growth would skew meaningfully to the downside and risks to inflation to the upside, adds the analyst, who is downgrading the firm’s Consumer Finance industry view to Cautious from Attractive. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ally Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Ally Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.69.

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.