First Manhattan CO. LLC. Increases Stock Position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,226,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 1.39% of Ally Financial worth $153,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Ally Financial by 38.5% in 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 acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $257,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 90,387 shares in the company, valued at $2,905,038.18. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 8,200 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.81 per share, with a total value of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 236,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,284,131.01. The trade was a 3.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALLY shares. Compass Point upgraded Ally Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.69.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.60. 4,654,743 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,563,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.94. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.52 and a 1-year high of $45.46.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.15. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.24%.

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.