Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,423 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALLY. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 233.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,430,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,509,000 after buying an additional 1,701,264 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,956,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,853 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,156,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,165,000 after purchasing an additional 517,388 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 184.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 532,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,044,000 after purchasing an additional 345,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 582,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,960,000 after purchasing an additional 332,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In related news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 25,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of Ally Financial stock opened at $30.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. Ally Financial Inc. has a one year low of $30.06 and a one year high of $45.46. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.34.

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

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research cut Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point raised shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.