AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 187,415 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 59.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 504,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 187,415 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Ally Financial worth $18,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 89.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $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 valued at about $78,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ally Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Ally Financial stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.55. 2,169,973 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,538,591. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.95. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.52 and a 1-year high of $45.46. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.14.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,905,038.18. This represents a 8.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson purchased 8,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.81 per share, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 236,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,284,131.01. This represents a 3.59 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALLY. StockNews.com cut Ally Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note 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. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Ally Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.69.

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.