Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 132,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,254 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Ally Financial were worth $4,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALLY. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,112,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ALLY shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research 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 lowered their price objective on Ally Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.69.

Ally Financial Price Performance

NYSE:ALLY traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.95. 316,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,548,679. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.52 and a 1 year high of $45.46. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.14. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $33.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.99.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.15. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $257,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson bought 8,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.81 per share, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 236,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,284,131.01. The trade was a 3.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

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.