Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 604 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 604 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALLY. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ally Financial by 89.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ally Financial

In other news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson purchased 19,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 owns 202,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 25,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALLY shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research cut Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.53.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Ally Financial stock opened at $36.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Ally Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.95 and a twelve month high of $45.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.33. The company has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.15%.

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.