California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 478,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 62,513 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Ally Financial worth $17,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,112,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,571,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,704,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,981,000 after acquiring an additional 51,426 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 532,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,044,000 after acquiring an additional 345,210 shares in the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ally Financial Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of ALLY opened at $32.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Ally Financial Inc. has a one year low of $30.06 and a one year high of $45.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.40. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes bought 25,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 owns 25,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson purchased 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 202,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ALLY shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.53.

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.