Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 126,566 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,263,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 126,566 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ally Financial were worth $153,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 218.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the third quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ally Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Ally Financial stock opened at $34.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.56. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.95 and a 1 year high of $45.46. The company has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ally Financial from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.76.

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.