KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 594,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,039 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.19% of Ally Financial worth $21,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Ally Financial by 38.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Ally Financial by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ally Financial

In related news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 8,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 236,421 shares in the company, valued at $7,284,131.01. The trade was a 3.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total value of $257,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 90,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,905,038.18. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALLY. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Ally Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.60.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,977,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,789,369. Ally Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.52 and a 12 month high of $45.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.76.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.15. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 6.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. Ally Financial's payout ratio is 88.24%.

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.